'No Tory stronghold is safe now' says Shadow Chancellor on visit to Knaresborough to support high street

Speaking to the Harrogate Advertiser after a visit to the town’s new Banking Hub on Kirkgate, Rachel Reeves MP said, if elected, The Labour Party planned to restore banking services as part of wider measures to support the high street and small businesses.

"As our victory in July in the Selby and Ainsty by-election showed, after 13 years of Tory misrule there are no no-go areas for Labour anymore,” said Ms Reeves, a former Bank of England economist.

“As the party of economic and fiscal responsibility, Labour will bring banking services back to communities who have seen them disappear over recent years, meaning more people will be able to access the services they need closer to home.”

The Shadow Chancellor, who paid tribute to her great mentor, the late former Chancellor Alastair Darling whose passing was announced yesterday, said while the Conservatives had delivered just a handful banking hubs, Labour’s plan would see at least 350 banking hubs established on local high streets.

"Knaresborough is such a beautiful town with so many vibrant small businesses but they’ve been hit by so many challenges by this Government,” said the Shadow Chancellor.

"It’s not right that small businesses should have to travel to Harrogate to pay in cash and cheques.

"It’s fantastic to see the town’s banking hub in action in Knaresborough.

"But we need a lot more of these and they need to be rolled out on a far larger scale.”

Alongside their plans to bring back banking to communities, Labour says it will support the great British high street in the following ways:

Give councils the power to tackle shuttered up shops

Tackle antisocial behaviour and shoplifting through dedicated police patrols

Replace business rates with a fairer system

End late payments to support small businesses

The launch of Knaresborough’s Banking Hub a fortnight ago was hailed by Andrew Jones, MP for Harrogate and Knaresborough, who said: “The new Hub is an invaluable to residents of Knaresborough and a great step forward for the community.”

Although Labour remains the forever third party in Harrogate and Knaresborough, Shadow Chancellor Rachel Reeves told the Harrogate Advertiser the party had high hopes of making gains in our county at the next election.

"The road to Downing Street goes right through Yorkshire,” she said.

"People do not need me telling them how to vote but they are looking to get rid of the Conservatives.

"We are hoping to either take back or win seats throughout Yorkshire at places such as Morley, Keighley and Shipley."

Labour’s plans for the high street would see it working with banks and, where necessary, bring in new powers for the FCA to stop people being left in

“banking deserts" without access to face-to-face banking.

The Shadow Chancellor’s visit to Knaresborough, accompanied by other members of the shadow cabinet, came just as it was announced by Barclays that it was closing the final bank branch in Prime Minister Rishi Sunak's constituency of Richmond.

A shared banking hub is expected to replace it.

Almost half of bank branches in the UK have shut since 2015.