Mr Gagan Mohindra

It is a pleasure to serve under your chairship, Ms Lewell. I congratulate the hon. Member for Didcot and Wantage (Olly Glover) on securing today’s debate. As we have heard, we are all increasingly concerned about the state of our high streets. As the House will know, I am a former furniture retailer. That was many years ago, and I think I would struggle in today’s environment. My plea to the Minister and to the Government is to change tack and support wealth creation. The high street is really suffering. Hospitality venues, independent retailers, SMEs, post offices, pharmacies and other local businesses are all facing rising costs and challenging trading conditions. The diversity that thriving high streets depend on is being destroyed by cost increases caused by this Labour Government. We have seen an increase in taxes for employing new people and in business rates, which makes it even harder for businesses to invest, grow and create jobs. My party has come up with an alternative plan. I am sure that the shadow Minister, my hon. Friend the Member for Arundel and South Downs (Andrew Griffith), will articulate what we think are the solutions to this huge problem, but here are the highlights. The back our high streets Bill would introduce a permanent 100% business rates relief for the retail, leisure and hospitality sector in England. The get Britain working Bill would scrap job-killing elements of the Employment Rights Act 2025, and the reducing bureaucracy Bill would repeal and cease a number of environmental, social and governance reporting requirements. We also have the save British industry and cheap energy Bills. Others have spoken about energy costs, which have put significant pressure on businesses. The middle east is part of the problem, but some of the Government’s policy decisions are only going to exacerbate those issues. A local wine merchant in Kings Langley, who provides white labelling for multiple retailers, is really struggling. They said that extended producer responsibility cost them an additional £240,000 in its first year of being introduced, and new bureaucratic regulation cost £15,000 to manage and adhere to, with an overcomplicated application. It feels like death by a thousand cuts for these businesses. It is affecting decisions to invest in those businesses, which in normal times would be increasingly successful. Hubs, a franchise owner in my constituency, said that his national insurance contributions alone increased by £138,000 from April to September, and he expects the figure to be £275,000 in the full first-year cycle. Mark, the Rickmansworth Waitrose branch manager, said there has been a 45% increase in wages in the last five years, and NICs are costing Waitrose millions. If a huge high street giant like Waitrose is suffering to this level, how can a small independent retailer of whatever type survive? My plea to the Minister, for whom I have the utmost respect, is to think twice about the burdens we are putting on businesses. Local councils can help, for example by not introducing parking charges for short stays. That would encourage footfall. We saw the upside of strong communities and high streets during the pandemic, where it was typically the retailers who knew their customers inside out who could identify where particular elements of our communities were suffering and proactively reach out to them. My worry is that if we continue with the drive towards online shopping— I am as guilty as anyone else—we will lose the face of our high streets, and the soft power relationship between retailers and the clients and consumers they serve.