Ealing Liberal Democrat Councillor Jonathan Oxley shares his thoughts on Labour-run Ealing Council and the new ‘stop-and-shop plus’ parking policy introduced in the borough.
“The Labour Party is supposed to be the party of working people.
“Clearly, somebody needs to remind the Chancellor, because her National Insurance tax increases have piled £25 billion of costs on to businesses employing labour, particularly low paid workers. The result is job losses with unemployment now at its highest since 2016.
“Ealing’s Labour Council is also attacking small businesses. Their misguided ‘stop-and-shop plus’ parking policy is a stealth tax on our highstreets – damaging local shopkeepers and depressing turnover.
“Labour seems to have forgotten their own seven towns strategy. A ‘one-size-fits-all’ approach to parking across the Borough is no substitute for the tailored parking arrangements that saw Pitshanger Lane crowned London’s finest high-street.
“Reducing the free time for parking in Pitshanger Lane to 30 minutes is simply too little to browse the shops, visit the hairdresser, meet someone for lunch or use the dance studio.
“Labour says they want to encourage more people to walk, cycle or take the bus, which is a laudable objective. However, we need to be realistic. Not everyone will use these. The elderly or disabled cannot easily take the bus, walk longer distances or cycle.
“Making parking more restrictive and expensive will literally drive people to the supermarket where parking is free. That’s why the Liberal Democrats would cancel ‘stop-and-shop plus’ across the Borough.
“Nationally, the Liberal Democrats are also committed to scrapping business rates and replacing them with a new, fairer levy that would be paid by the owner of the premises, rather than the tenant.
“And what of the Conservatives? They used to have the reputation as the party of business and, locally, claim to be against ‘stop and shop plus’, but the Conservatives long ago ceased to have any credibility on business. After all, this is the party of Boris Johnson, who reportedly promised to ‘f**k business.’
“They’re the party of Liz Truss, who crashed the economy. Most damagingly of all, the Conservatives are the party that brought us Brexit, which placed barriers between the UK and our biggest trading partner. A study by the London School of Economics estimates that after Brexit, exports to the EU by small businesses collapsed by 30%.
“If you care about the health of our small businesses, the Liberal Democrats are the only credible party to choose at next May’s local elections.”
