North Shropshire MP heads back to parliament promising to highlight issues facing small businesses

Helen Morgan returns to Westminster after parliament's summer recess, during which she visited several firms in her constituency. The Liberal Democrat MP, who retained her seat in the July election, has pledged to campaign for more support for small businesses in North Shropshire having visited companies including The Shropshire Distillery in Ellesmere.

The MP said the company, which produces "delicious" gin, faces challenges including high business rates and rising energy costs - something that she aims to raise with the new Labour Government.

Mrs Morgan also visited leading plant hire company Ridgway Rentals, which is based in St Martin's and hires machinery from telehandlers to 50-ton excavators, and transports plant and machinery to construction sites across the UK using its fleet of HGVs and trailers.

But, the MP reports that life has been made "difficult" for the business with "inconsistent rules" across the country regarding the transportation of abnormal loads. Morgan says she will speak with National Highways and the Department for Transport to "press for the regulations to be standardised".

Elsewhere, Mrs Morgan visited Arla Foods' site in Oswestry last Thursday, viewing operations at the facility where more than 30,000 tonnes of cheese are packed each year.

And, after seeing the work of local businesses ahead of her return to Parliament this week, she says she "intends to highlight the issues facing small businesses and press the Government to do more to ensure they can succeed and help provide much-needed economic growth".

"Small businesses are crucial to the local economy in North Shropshire, while larger firms like Arla provide much-needed employment in the constituency," she said.

"Local firms need more support as they are forced to struggle with high energy bills, confusing regulation and unfair business rates.

"These are all issues that I raised with the previous Government and I will now be pressing Labour to act to make life fairer for small businesses.

"The business rates system needs a complete overhaul and we also need a proper windfall tax on the record profits of oil and gas giants to generate money to provide support to the people and businesses that really need it."