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We have a nice Christmas tradition in our local Labour Party.

Instead of spending Saturday morning in Pontefract and ­Castleford town centres handing out leaflets, we hand out mince pies to say Merry Christmas and thank you instead.

Our towns are still busy on Saturday morning but we all know that high streets across the country are facing real pressure as shops close and major retailers pull out.

A new report out this week rightly calls for business rates to be cut and overhauled and more support for our town centres. But that’s not enough. The truth is our towns aren’t getting a fair deal.

Research done for the Labour Towns group of MPs and councillors found that overall job growth in towns since the last recession has only been half the rate of growth in cities.

The economic divide between cities and towns is growing and the Tory Government is making it worse.

(Image: Getty)

Austerity has hit towns and smaller cities hard, so it isn’t just retailers who have been leaving.

Often the libraries, police stations, council offices, magistrates courts, swimming pools, community centres, A&E or the maternity services have been closed, forcing people to travel to nearby cities instead. Lottery and arts funding is higher in cities too.

Manufacturing jobs in towns are being squeezed while new service or creative opportunities are concentrated in cities.

Meanwhile most of the transport money goes to London or other major hubs. Buses have been cut.

Northern Rail is a nightmare, with passengers having to put up with delays, cancellations, missing carriages and outdated rolling stock.

Don’t get me wrong. We need strong and successful cities. Leeds and London, the two cities I know best, are great.

But I grew up in a town and represent four towns – all of which have strong and proud communities, great history and talent for the future, but they need their fair share of investment and opportunity.

It’s time to support Britain’s towns. Instead of making everyone travel to cities for public services, we need more in towns.

Instead of rolling out new broadband or 5G infrastructure in cities first, why not start in nearby towns? Instead of always using all the transport money on overruns for big city projects like HS2 or Crossrail, why not start by improving local trains and buses?

The Government seems to think if you only support cities, everything will just trickle down and out to the towns, but it hasn’t worked. Let’s have a fair deal to boost our towns and cities together.

(Image: Julian Hamilton/Daily Mirror)

Brexit chaos

The Government’s Brexit plans are in a total mess.

No one likes the Prime Minister’s deal, but she keeps delaying and ruling out every other option, including the Norway option, Canada option or a customs union deal.

Cabinet ministers are arguing in public because they can’t agree.

If they carry on like this they will push us over a “no deal” cliff edge in March. Troops are now on stand-by, medicines are being stockpiled and the NHS, police and businesses are all having to spend billions of pounds preparing for no deal because of this mess.

(Image: Getty Images)

That money could have been spent on extra nurses or police officers instead. Manufacturers say sudden tariffs and border delays will hit them hard. Police officers say suddenly losing security arrangements will make us less safe.

This is totally irresponsible. It’s time for the Government to stop threatening everyone, to rule out “no deal,” and have a proper debate about all the options.

We need some common sense in this process before it is too late.