Blackpool focus as Labour pledges to get seaside towns booming again
Blackpool has been the focus of fresh calls from The Labour Party to do more to support seaside towns.
Last updated 30th Aug 2023
The Labour Party are calling for more to be done to support seaside towns and get them booming again.
In a visit to Blackpool's Illuminations Factory, ahead of the Switch-On, Shadow Tourism Minister Jeff Smith said his party pledged to boost local coastal economies and jobs.
Under their plans the party will:
• Scrap and replace the current business rates with a system they say is 'more modern and fair'.
• Reform the Apprenticeship Levy to help address workforce shortages.
• Crack down on sewage dumping into our rivers and coastal waters.
• Allow councils to introduce a holiday let licensing scheme which they say will stop communities becoming 'ghost towns' after the holiday season ends.
Shadow Minister Jeff Smith said: "There's no magic bullet so what we need is a number of different solutions to clamp down on some of the problems we face.
"I would point to the issues around sewage which have affected a lot of coastal towns around the UK, Blackpool included. We need a much stronger regime to clamp down on the sewage dumping.
"Tourism is our third biggest export industry so it is really important for the country that we give some support to the coastal towns that are the lifeblood of our country's heritage."