I AM sure we have all noticed the number of shops and small businesses that have closed.

Many of our town centres are no longer vibrant, but resemble retail graveyards. Some say this is a sign of the times, but do we really have to accept this, or should we do something about it?

A great number of shops and small businesses are forced to close due to high business rates and unfair competition. The blame for this rests in the hands of local councils and town planners. They introduce high business rates or allow competition to such a level it drives some traders into bankruptcy. Other businesses are forced to close because of lack of support and because the banks (who are now in profit thanks to being propped up with taxpayers' money) pull the financial rug from beneath them. Surely this is not a logical way to obtain a vibrant town centre or local economy?

Yet it is not only the town centres that have suffered. Many of our villages have lost shops, Post Offices and public houses, tearing the heart out of local communities. Again, measures must be introduced to keep our villages alive and businesses open. We have heard much from the Con-Dem government about localism, but little of substance which will make any impact to shops and businesses in rural communities.

Banks must support small businesses and not cripple them. Local councils should offer affordable business rates and not introduce 'dog eat dog' competition between shops, forcing many to close. Such measures would help keep businesses open.

The English Radical Alliance is launching a national campaign to impose policies to address the situation, details of which can be found in the campaigns section of our website at www.englishradicals.com. We wish to create the conditions which will allow our small businesses and independent retailers to survive. There has to be change, radical change, or our town centres will simply become retail cemeteries and our villages dormitories.

For too long we have followed one route and the Con-Dem government seem certain to continue dragging us down this one way street. As English Radicals, we say now is the time to make a U-turn before it is too late.

RICK HEYSE, English Radical Alliance, Collingwood Road, PAIGNTON