Fear must not grip the High Street – Labour urges Business as usual
Labour today urged business as usual in Britain’s High Streets, already suffering from falling retails sales and now hard hit by the riots in London, Birmingham, Manchester and Liverpool. With decisive action having been taken by the Police to restore order, shops, pubs, bars and restaurants should remain open and shoppers should once again go back into the High Street, Labour said.
Shadow Local Government Minister and MP for Birmingham Erdington, Jack Dromey said:
“Birmingham lost £5 million a day in sales and some shops in Erdington High Street in my constituency saw their sales halved. Indeed, on Tuesday, riot rumours swept the High Street and all shops shut up shutters. Britain’s High Streets are already struggling as sales fall because of collapsing consumer confidence. We cannot allow fear to grip the High Streets because some small retailers will simply go out of business.”
“The Police have acted decisively to restore order. Now we need normality on the High Street. Our message to shoppers this weekend is you can shop in safety and, to shop keepers, it should be business as usual.”
Chuka Umunna, Shadow Minister for Small Business & Enterprise and MP for Streatham said:
“Small and medium sized businesses are the lifeblood of our local economies and lynchpins of our local communities, providing most private sector jobs and almost half of private sector turnover in this country – they were amongst the biggest victims of the unrest.
“All of us can help stop the actions of a few from dragging our economy down as a whole by getting out on to the high street, supporting our local shops and, in affected areas, helping them get back on their feet again.”
