The Labour Party has promised a resurrection of high streets across the North East after they set out a five-point plan to “breathe new life” into the main shopping districts of the region and the wider UK.
During a visit to Yarm on Wednesday (April 10) Labour’s deputy leader Angela Rayner, shadow chancellor Rachel Reeves, and shadow home secretary Yvette Cooper highlighted how the political party will bring people back to the high street and re-open empty units.
In its five-point plan, Labour has said that it will tackle anti-social behaviour, roll out banking hubs, and replace business rates with a new system of business property taxation, alongside stamping out late payments and making sure more money gets to high street firms and revamp empty shops, pubs, and community spaces.
When quizzed on why Labour had chosen to visit Yarm, instead of visiting high streets like Newton Aycliffe, Bishop Auckland and Peterlee, which have record numbers of empty units, Ms Rayner said: “Why not? Yarm is a perfect example of how we want high streets to be up and down the country – it’s thriving.
“But we are also here because even in somewhere like Yarm, we want to show that crime and shoplifting are up – and workers feel unsafe because of anti-social behaviour in shops.
“It’s important to bring back footfall to the high streets – and we need to invest in town centres and make them places that people want to go.”
During the visit, the three members of the shadow cabinet spoke to workers in Sainsbury’s, who have been using body cameras since 2018 – which has seen a rise in crime and abuse directed towards workers.
At Sainsbury’s Yarm store, Labour representatives spoke to shop worker Sophie Tweddell, who has worked at the branch for eight months and says crime and anti-social behaviour have risen over the last three months.
This has led to her and the team having to use one of the six body cameras once every week.
According to the shop worker, she believes this increase is due to a lack of enforcement by police.
To combat the lack of police intervention, Labour has set out that they will introduce 13,000 more neighbourhood police and PCSOs on the street; something that they have promised they can budget into the Labour pledge.
Shadow home secretary Yvette Cooper added: “Crime and anti-social behaviour are blighting our once-bustling town and city centres, yet neighbourhood policing in town centres has been heavily cut – that is the legacy of 14 years of Conservative government.
“Labour will take back our high streets with more bobbies on the beat, and we’ll boost patrols with our Community Policing Guarantee, to crack down on shoplifters and keep the public safe.”
It’s not just big brands who are struggling with crime and anti-social behaviour, with members of the shadow cabinet also visiting independent retailer Fulmine and its owner Tony Rodgers.
Despite having no anti-social problems in his store, Mr Rodgers, from Eaglescliffe, has highlighted that he favoured Yarm over Middlesbrough or Stockton, given the crime rates at the alternatives.
Although not struggling with criminality in his store, the business owner did note that he’s unable to draw a wage from his company – and has highlighted the lack of help from the government.
He said: “If I was based in other parts of Teesside, I would fear crime rates on top of the worries about running a business.”
In data, Labour claims that under the Conservatives, there are 3,710 fewer fruit and veg shops, butchers, and newsagents since 2010, while an additional 385 towns have seen their last bank branch close, or announce that they will be closing imminently.
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Labour has also highlighted record levels of shoplifting - up more than 30 per cent in a single year - and persistently high levels of antisocial behaviour, with a third of the public witnessing or experiencing it in their local area over the past 12 months.
On plans to resurrect high streets, Ms Rayner said: “Our town and city centres are an untapped strength of Britain’s economy. Yet across the country, the paint is peeling, the pavements are cracking, and people just aren’t getting what they want when they visit town.
“Tory chaos has cost the country dearly, and every region has paid the price. Labour will use the full force of government to get behind our high streets and spark the decade of national renewal that communities deserve.”
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