The Labour Government is seeking to undo the damage it has inflicted over the past fifteen months through a reannouncement of funding.
I am proud of the vibrant high streets across Ruislip, Northwood and Pinner and, with supportive councils, we have many independent shops across the constituency. Sadly, we know that our local shops have been hit hard by fiscal measures under this Government. Indeed, the British Retail Consortium estimates an additional £7 billion of annual costs.
At a time when local shops are spending more to hire staff, the retail sector is making cuts and independent shops are struggling. To correct this, the Government today announced its fig-leaf Pride in Place funding to skew funding towards Labour areas.
In a statement today in the Commons, I pushed the Minister on specifics. The Minister had no answers, leaving our high streets facing uncertainty ahead of more tax rises in the budget.
