Another nail in the coffin of localism as Pickle's rejects supermarket levy out of hand

The Tory minister Eric Pickles has denied local councils the right to choose to levy a big business. I wrote about a large retailer levy a while back in perhaps an overly academic fashion looking at the pros and cons. I did have some conversations with senior councillors and officers at Cornwall Council and a few months later they did write to government asking for those powers. I have a lot of sympathy with the idea of a big retail tax, all of our town centers have empty shops, yet Cornish towns are increasingly encircled by supermarkets and out of town retail. The small independent local businesses are obviously losing out to the multinational chains and as a consequence money is leaving Cornwall faster than tourists in late August.


What's so thoroughly depressing and frustrating about it all is that man Eric Pickle's again acting like lord and master over local government and indeed local communities. In an amazing act of hyperbole even for Eric he sent out a personal press release the DCLG website states: "Local Government Secretary, Eric Pickles, stood up for hard-working people today." Is frankly bizzare and falls into that typical lazy politician trap of saying what people want to hear regardless of the reality. Is it just hard working people that shop in supermarkets, don't lazy people, unemployed people, students, children and those not able to work shop there too? Do hard working people not shop in town too? or is it just the feckless found on the high street?

This case is so typical of Eric Pickle's despite the fact he said things like this a couple of years ago when he unveiled the localism bill:

"It is the centrepiece of what this Government is trying to do to fundamentally shake up the balance of power in this country. For too long, everything has been controlled from the centre - and look where it’s got us. Central government has kept local government on a tight leash, strangling the life out of councils in the belief that bureaucrats know best."

He doesn't understand localism, him and his government have backtracked on nearly every principle of this forcing councils to accept housing figures they don't want and to effectively cap council tax to pursue their ideology of cutting public services. Recently William Hague ruled out a Cornish Assembly without even asking anyone in Cornwall! The same is true of Eric's refusal to tax big retailers. It's not about what the local areas want, Cornwall Councils can't even ask people if they want this. Eric has decided from his office hundreds of miles away, end of story. This control freakery of Westminster needs to stop, Supermarkets like housing so much else should be our choice not the distant government, which is why I believe a Cornish Assembly is the answer.