SHOP LOCAL CAMPAIGN

That this House congratulates the East Anglian Daily Times on its Shop Local Campaign; notes that it has already attracted the support of more than 150 shops and other businesses representing a wide cross-section of traders in Essex and Suffolk; welcomes the promotion of the importance of local growers, producers, retailers and other businesses to the well-being of the local economy, and for their survival and prosperity in the face of the growing dominance of national companies and with it the creeping advance of clone town Britain with the loss of distinctive local identities; recognises that if local businesses are successful, then local economies thrive, creating the conditions to nurture more new businesses and create more jobs; urges other communities across the country to establish their own campaigns using the shop local concept promoted by the East Anglian Daily Times; and calls on the Government to introduce measures which support and stimulate local businesses and the interests of local economies.