Lib Dems launch plan to back Liverpool business as Daisy Cooper MP hears hospitality's "cries for help"
The Liverpool Liberal Democrats have officially launched "Liverpool First: Global Ambitions for a Global City", a new policy paper setting out the party's plan to back the city's businesses, restore Liverpool's global standing and make it one of the most dynamic city economies in the world.
At the heart of the paper is a reimagined Liverpool Vision, bringing the city's top business people into decision making alongside the council, backed by a business hotline to unblock planning issues and more planning officers so investors get straight answers. A new Liverpool Investment Bank would offer grants and low cost loans to help start-ups scale up and stay in the city, while a Land Unlocking Partnership with the private sector would bring stalled sites back to life to deliver new homes and jobs.
The paper also sets out plans to masterplan distinct cultural districts to create "the world in one city", starting with Chinatown, to establish a Liverpool Music Quarter around the 051, Mount Pleasant and the Adelphi, and to create a Maritime Enterprise Zone along the waterfront, cementing Liverpool as Britain's global maritime capital in a sector already growing at more than four times the rate of the wider UK economy.
The launch was built around listening to the businesses the paper is designed to support. On Monday, Liberal Democrat Deputy Leader and Treasury Spokesperson Daisy Cooper MP joined a round table with hospitality leaders at The Art School Restaurant, hosted by chef patron Paul Askew, bringing together figures from restaurants, pubs, music venues and the wider visitor economy. The industry's message was that Liverpool remains a vibrant visitor economy city, but that the pressures of VAT, business rates and employer National Insurance rises are, in their words, "real and brutal".
The paper was then formally launched the following evening at a business dinner at Panoramic 34, where guests took in spectacular views across the city whose future the paper sets out, sharing their ideas and concerns directly with Lib Dem Leader Cllr Carl Cashman and Liberal Democrat councillors and campaigners.
Cllr Carl Cashman, Leader of the Liverpool Liberal Democrats, said:
"Liverpool's people are the most ambitious and entrepreneurial anywhere, and they deserve a council that matches that ambition. From a Liverpool Investment Bank for our start-ups, to a Music Quarter around the 051, to making our city Britain's global maritime capital, Liverpool First is a plan to make Liverpool one of the most dynamic city economies in the world.
"We wrote this paper by listening to businesses, and that is exactly how we launched it. The message from the industry was loud and clear: they love this city, but they need a government and a council that back them. That is exactly what we will be."
Daisy Cooper MP, Liberal Democrat Deputy Leader and Treasury Spokesperson, said:
"Everyone I met said they love Liverpool, they love this industry, and they love welcoming people into their restaurants, pubs and music venues. But people are really struggling right now, and I could hear the cries for help.
"After two really brutal budgets, Andy Burnham has a very short window to turn things around. With the Budget coming in October, hospitality needs to be heard, on business rates, National Insurance and everything else these businesses have been hammered with. Without hospitality, our high streets will die, and we want to make sure our high streets can thrive."