So many people you won’t be able to see the empty shops claim Tories

At last night's Council meeting (21 July 2015) Cllr Neil Sandison again highlighted his concerns over falling footfall in the Town Centre - see http://rugby.lib.dm/a3Zm2 .

Cllr Sandison said that the Council should learn the lessons from the recent Bike Fest when pop-up stalls in front of empty shops brought back a sense of life to Sheep Street and High Street. "We could do the same during the Rugby World Cup" he urged.

Did the town's ruling tories say what they were going to do to arrest the 12% decline in visitor numbers? No. Instead Cllr Lisa Parker (Con) criticised Cllr Sandison for being "vociferous".

Meanwhile Tory leader Michael Stokes said that he hoped that during the Rugby World Cup there would be "So many people in Rugby Centre we won't be able to see the shop fronts". We fear his optimism may prove to be as unfounded as former Labour Defence Secretary John Reid who speaking in Kabul on 23 April 2006 said "We're in the south to help and protect the Afghan people to reconstruct their economy and democracy. We would be perfectly happy to leave in three years time without firing one shot."