Enjoyable morning chatting to local shoppers in Bedale Market Place.
In spite of the cold, lots of people were out and many stopped by to say hello and have a chat. Setting up street stalls like this on busy market days is an excellent way for me to hear from lots of people. I find that people (of all political persusasions) appreciate that I make the effort to be out and about listening to their views.
As usual we covered a host of issues: education and apprenticeships came up a lot, as did English Votes for English Laws. As I spoke to many of the small retailers in town (hairdressers, butchers, gift shops, grocery stores), I emphasised my priority to help small businesses through reforms to business rates and VAT. Independent retailers are a wonderful feature of our market towns and could do with that little extra help to continue thriving.