Shopping for a new PM with a purpose…

What has seemed like an inevitability for months…well maybe not for Boris, has finally come to fruition, and the Prime Minister has resigned. At last, we now have the opportunity to get a leader that is capable of governing. Out of chaos often comes opportunity, and as the to-do list is long and urgent, the job requires a serious candidate who will deliver.

Leadership is about confronting challenges, not avoiding them and if there was ever a time for actions rather than words, it is right now. It’s time to get a grown-up in charge that can lead the country rather than effectively feed it junk food, with a diet of bluster and spin.

The present economic situation has all the hallmarks of being worse than the 2008 financial crisis, and it’s a worry to everyone because we are at a huge risk of stagnating. The next leader will need to rally the troops for the monumental task ahead, rather than leave them with no other choice but to jump ship in the middle of an unprecedented crisis.

The alarm bells are ringing, costs are rocketing at a distressing rate, with estimates putting the rate of inflation at 9.1%, and every indicator out there suggesting that this figure is only going to rise further. We need a Prime Minister that is able to put their full weight behind steadying the ship, rather than sailing it into the rocks – something we’ve recently had to endure on a daily basis.

This is a tough time for business, especially for retail, and having just come out of the storm from Covid we’ve been promptly sucked right back in by a cocktail of cost increases.

We need a leader with the balls to finally address the pressing issues of the day rather than kicking the can down the road for the next government to deal with. For a start, they can fix our archaic tax system, which has for far too long seen brick-and-mortar retailers bear the brunt of the taxation burden, whilst the online giants like Amazon get away with not paying their fair share.  The difference that financial input would make to public services would be game-changing.

We’re a great nation of shopkeepers and any leader with half an ounce of brain power would nurture that. Small businesses are the lifeline of the UK economy, accounting for three-fifths of the employment and around half of turnover in the UK private sector, but they’re currently hanging on by the skin of their teeth and are crying out for some support. 

Any leader and future government with any common sense needs to throw a life raft to businesses and level the playing field by cutting business rates - at the very least! Overhauling our taxation system would not only maintain the current level of revenues going into the Treasury’s coffers, but it would also provide businesses and services with the cash that they are so desperately in need of.

Ultimately, we need a leader with a moral compass, not a pen pusher or someone with their own ego-led agenda, and importantly, someone that is going to support business, not f**k business!