2005 press releases

Local MP backs Commons bill to protect local specialist shops

Lewes MP Norman Baker has today given his backing to a Commons bill which seeks to protect the future of small local shops which play a vital role in communities across the Lewes constituency. The Private Members Bill, tabled by the Lib Dem Small Business Spokesman Brian Cotter MP, has been introduced at a vital time for small, independent retailers as Lib Dem research has revealed that an estimated 20,000 specialist shops, including bakeries, butchers and corner shops, have closed since Labour came to power in 1997 - an average closure rate of around 50 shops per week.

Commenting on his support for the Bill, Norman says:

"Small shops are the very life blood of our community, providing job opportunities and vital services to local people, particularly those without transport, such as the elderly and the disabled. Whilst people in Lewes itself are to an extent fortunate that the town has been more successful than many others in retaining much of its traditional, individual character and many of its locally-owned, independent stores, other small retailers across the constituency are struggling to survive.

"Labour has presided over a dramatic collapse in the number of small shops since 1997, with many local shopping parades literally becoming ghost towns as independent retailers are strangled by increasing amounts of red tape and crushed by the disproportionate burden of business rates.

"With analysts predicting that Britain will have lost a third of its neighbourhood stores by 2010, it is imperative that we act now to save our small retailers from having to permanently shut up shop. This Bill will help halt this trend and restore life back into the local community."

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