Labour candidate for Bicester and Woodstock, Veronica Oakeshott, has launched plans with local business leaders to "revitalise" the Bicester, Woodstock and Kidlington high streets.
Local business leaders joined Ms Oakeshott at a business breakfast event at The Littlebury Hotel in Bicester on the morning of June 12 to share their challenges and hopes for boosting our local area’s economy.
Ms Oakeshott said: “Bicester, sitting as it does between Oxford and Cambridge, is brilliantly placed to be part of the knowledge economy and the clean, green industries of the future that Labour will promote.
"Those are the industries that will help put us back at the forefront of the global economy and will generate skilled jobs our kids will be proud to do.”
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“Business large and small across the constituency has been affected by politically driven economic instability.
"I’m excited at the prospect of finally getting some economic stability back to this country so our businesses can grow.”
Significant challenges that local business leaders have identified in the West Oxfordshire and Cherwell area include finding affordable premises, congestion on our roads and access to employees with the right skills.
Ms Oakeshott added: “No wonder our town and village centres – including Sheep Street and the Market Square in Bicester and Kidlington centre- are hollowed out.’ says Oakeshott.
"We need change."
Labour claims it will scrap the current business rates system and replace it with a new system, revamp empty shops by giving councils new powers to take over empty shops and reopen them, make sure people feel safe when they go out to shop, eat or have fun on their local high street by tackling anti-social behaviour with new town centre police patrols and make small retail business owners and their staff safer by creating a new specific offence of assault against retail workers.
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Labour also claims it will make small retail business owners and their staff safer by creating a new specific offence of assault against retail workers.
Ms Oakeshott said: "I’ll bring my experience as a former councillor in London, fighting to ensure public services and infrastructure were fit for purpose to keep a workforce running, and I’ll bring my experience as a professional campaigner, winning important changes to the law and policy.
"If Labour is elected nationally, I hope to work with likely Labour Ministers – some of whom I know personally - to create the right business environment for Bicester, Woodstock, Kidlington and our villages to flourish.”
Candidates Ms Oakeshott will be standing against in the general election are: Rupert Harrison (Conservatives), Calum Miller (Liberal Democrats), Ian Middleton (Green), Augustine Obodo (Reform UK) and Tim Funnell (Social Democratic Party).
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