Today I spoke in Parliament on behalf of many local business leaders, including those represented by Ilford BID.
Many businesses are under enormous pressure, both from the Covid-19 pandemic and more than a decade of Government inaction to support them.
Small and local businesses are the backbone of our communities. That’s why we should scrap the regressive business rates tax and replace it with a fairer system which supports growth and boosts local economies like Ilford South’s.
More broadly, the pandemic has shown that an economic approach that isn’t afraid of intervention when necessary to protect jobs and local businesses is better than one that sacrifices everything in the interests of a small group at the top.
We must use this unique moment to lay a different pathway for our economy because there most definitely is an alternative.