Employment and the High Street

Yasmin Qureshi Excerpts

Wednesday 7th December 2022 Westminster Hall

[Yasmin Qureshi (Bolton South East) (Lab)]

It is, as ever, a pleasure to serve under your chairmanship, Mrs Cummins. I thank my hon. Friend the Member for Hornsey and Wood Green (Catherine West) for securing the debate.

This issue is so vital to towns such as Bolton, which I have seen evolve since my election in 2010. In years gone past, the high street of Bolton bustled and businesses flourished. It was a real economic centre in the north-west. We had a large department store, and it may seem trivial but the high street was populated with butchers, greengrocers and the like, all offering affordable and fresh options. Fast forward to today and it could not be any more different: we have empty shops, a huge number of betting shops and charity shops, and tons of pawnbrokers. It is a perfect storm for a town that is now the third most deprived in Greater Manchester, and my constituency is the 38th most deprived in the United Kingdom.

The decline is obvious. There is a clear correlation between the rise of the internet and super-retailers and the demise of our high streets. As online retailers took over, the need to commute into Bolton town centre to go shopping quickly became unnecessary. The ease and simple nature of it seemed to offer all upsides and no downsides; a new mode of leisure was here to stay. The pandemic has made things worse. Our high streets in Bolton and throughout the country are now in a concerning state, and it is our economy and the people of our country who are losing out.

I am not saying that we should not be able to shop online—indeed, I am sure all Members have used online retailers—but we need to rebalance the scales to ensure that brick-and-mortar businesses in Bolton can compete with online stores, which have lower costs and can reduce their prices. I want to see Bolton High Street flourish. I want independent retailers, coffee shops, butchers, bakers and others to spring up. I want our high street to reflect the Britain of old: a nation of shopkeepers. For that to happen, we need a Government who take an active role, a state that nurtures business and a taxation system that rebalances the scale in favour of brick-and-mortar businesses.

Labour plans to replace business rates with a fairer system and devolve power to local communities so that they can decide what they want to do in their local area. We have committed to truly invest in and level up left-behind neighbourhoods such as Farnworth and Harper Green in my constituency, and to spur regional growth. That will ensure that regions are more prosperous and create jobs and opportunities. It will make towns such as mine and others good places to grow up, learn, work and grow old in. People should not have to leave to get on, and improving employment prospects on the high street is key to that. I urge the Government to do more to help our local shops.