Sarah Olney

Sarah Olney

Liberal Democrat — Richmond Park

Speaking in the House of Commons on 4 November 2025

Debate

Supporting High Streets

Contribution

The current landscape is extremely challenging for high street businesses. I am sure that Members across the House have heard from countless local businesses in their constituencies, on their high streets and in the hearts of their communities about the challenges they face—from the Government’s national insurance increase to sky-high energy bills and uncertainty about what the Employment Rights Bill means for them. I wish to contextualise the motion and the challenges of the business landscape after years of dire economic mismanagement by the last Conservative Government. On their watch, energy costs soared and economic chaos unfolded following their mini-Budget. Business confidence fell, in part because of the scrapping of the industrial strategy and the huge increases in trade barriers following their botched trade agreement with the EU.

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