Residents will be given new powers to block vaping and gambling shops in a town planning shake-up.
Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer will announce a major overhaul of decision-making to give locals more control of the shops on their high streets.
It will mean that neighbourhoods can veto ‘unwanted’ businesses by limiting the number of any particular type of store within a certain area.
The move has been prompted by concerns over the proliferation of Turkish barbers and American sweet shops in many towns, many of which are suspected of being fronts for money-laundering operations and employing illegal immigrants.
But it comes as fears grow within Labour that run-down town centres are helping drive the surge in support for Reform UK and its message that Britain is broken.
Sir Keir is expected to announce the proposals in a speech on Thursday in which he will also commit new funding to ‘left behind’ areas.
He will set out how more responsibility can be devolved to councils, including letting them take control of derelict shops quicker so they can be leased to new businesses.
It was reported that new Communities Secretary Steve Reed said: ‘The country is not working for far too many people. People and regions are not sharing in Britain’s prosperity equally.
Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer (above) will announce a major overhaul of decision-making to give locals more control of the shops on their high streets
‘We’ve got a lot of communities that feel they don’t have a voice. They’ve been ignored, they’ve been left behind and they’re not getting any investment.
‘This is about supporting those communities to take back control, restore pride in the places where they’re living, and give them the power and resources to make their areas more successful.’
But he also accused Reform UK of ‘weaponising people’s legitimate grievances to try to pull communities apart’.
He added: ‘Reform wants to put a stick into those divides and make them wider. We will build bridges and heal them.
‘The way you do that is by bringing in investment for the whole country, getting economic growth across the whole country, but also giving people in those communities that feel left behind the power they need to change things.’
