On Monday, rather than heading to Westminster as I usually would to represent North West Norfolk in Parliament, I was in King’s Lynn welcoming Kemi Badenoch to our town. It is not every day the Leader of the Opposition visits and I was delighted she accepted my invitation to come to West Norfolk and meet local residents and businesses and talk about the challenges facing the high street.
It was fitting that we met outside the new King’s Lynn Library. This is already attracting significantly more footfall than in the Carnegie building and is helping to support local shops and cafes as a result. Getting more people to come into the town centre has been a priority for the Town Deal board which secured funding from the last government for nearly half of the new library costs - with Conservative run Norfolk County Council funding the rest of the £17 million project. Investments such as this as well as the St. George’s Guildhall project are key to that.
Kemi came here to talk directly about how we can have stronger high streets and listen to the concerns and issues facing local firms. It was a particular pleasure to talk to John Day whose family business The Fent Shop has over 70 years of history. We also spoke to businesses from hospitality, leisure, legal services, and other sectors in the town. The Leader of Norfolk County Council, Kay Mason Billig whose Conservative administration has done so much to champion the High Streets Matter and Supporting Local Pubs campaign joined us.
One of the biggest challenges raised with us was the higher business rates that came into effect this month when the Chancellor scrapped the discount for leisure, retail, and hospitality firms which is adding thousands of pounds of costs before businesses even open their door. Employment costs and regulation are making it more expensive and riskier for firms to take on new people as is sadly shown in the unemployment data.
Under Conservative plans, we will scrap business rates for firms with a rateable value up to £110,000 – funded by cutting welfare payments - to lift this major burden. We would also reduce small business and consumer energy costs by scrapping the carbon taxes that apply to electricity generation. And we would take a tougher approach to retail and other crime.
By contrast, at a time when we need to encourage visitors and tourism the Chancellor is planning to introduce a tourism tax which would only further undermine our high streets, coastal, and independent businesses.
After spending time on the high street, we were hosted at a local farm to talk about the growing pressures facing farmers due to the military action in Iran including rising fertiliser prices. And the damage of the Family Farm Tax, and the concern it is causing, has not gone away despite a partial change by the government before Christmas. That’s why we would scrap it. Proposed changes to shotgun licensing and other measures seemingly targeted at rural communities are also a worry.
These are challenging times for our high streets who support so many jobs and make our communities what they are. By pursuing the right policies, we can help them thrive and support jobs and there are better times ahead. That’s why Kemi came to King’s Lynn.
