Letter from Parliament - Simon Danczuk MP

Simon Danczuk, Rochdale MP

I always take great pride in seeing local businesses do well and I was delighted to be asked to recently open the new factory at Hanson Springs. That the opening coincided with their 50th anniversary was a reminder of the hard work and commitment that generations of people have put into this business.

I recently took the shadow business secretary, Chuka Umuna, on a tour of their factory. He was very impressed and recognized it as a great British business. We’re proud to have them in Rochdale and they’re a fantastic local success story.

Hanson Springs demonstrate that success can take a long time. Change, said Martin Luther King, does not roll in on the wheels of inevitability, but comes through continuous struggle. I’m frequently reminded of this in Rochdale as we have a number of difficult problems that are going to take time to solve.

Helping our local high streets adapt to changing consumer behavior, which has seen online shopping and out of town shopping centres suck shoppers out of traditional town centres, is one of the biggest challenges facing the town. What doesn’t help is the Government’s decision to cancel a revaluation of business rates, which would have brought taxes into line with reduced property values and ensured that traders paid a fair rate.

The biggest problem facing local traders is sky-high business rates that are completely out of touch with property values. One such example, which featured on the national news this week, is the Best Cod in Town on Yorkshire Street. This is an award winning fish and chip shop and the owners have worked really hard to build up the business. But when they’re burdened with business rates that are twice the level of their rent it makes things almost impossible.

I told the BBC this week that business rates have now become an anti-business tax and these high rates are putting entrepreneurs off from setting up a business in empty shops. The government needs to urgently act to give small businesses a fighting chance of survival.

Another difficult challenge has been the long fight for justice for Rochdale’s Khuram Shaikh, who was brutally murdered in Sri Lanka in 2011. This week it has been confirmed that the DNA of the main suspect, a local politician with ties to the president, was found at the scene of the murder. I am hopeful that a trial date will be set soon. But as with other challenges we will have to be patient and keep fighting.