September 9: Cooper setting refugee agenda

David Cameron says the UK’s decision to accept 20,000 stricken Syrians from refugee camps should be seen in the context of the country’s wider aid effort; Labour contend that the response is heartless and does not reflect the benevolence of all those families who have made generous offers to help after being shocked by the haunting photograph of the body of three-year-old Aylan Kurdi being washed up on a Turkey beach when his family’s bid for freedom ended in tragedy.

Yet the over-emphasis on refugee numbers is misplaced. It is immaterial whether this country welcomes 5,000, 20,000 or 100,000 families in response to the biggest mass movement of people since World War Two; the key is addressing why so many people are fleeing hell-holes like Syria and what can be done to improve the Middle East’s faltering security.

On this, Yvette Cooper, the West Yorkshire MP and Shadow Home Secretary, is once again setting the agenda with her call for a new Marshall Plan to be created to provide the region with the long-term support that it will require if the exodus of refugees is to be reduced to more manageable numbers. She is right – what has been particularly striking is the lack of co-ordination amongst Europe’s most influential countries, Britain included, and the reluctance of agencies like the United Nations to lead by example. After all, this failure is prompting the desperate to continue making the hazardous journey across the Mediterranean – a journey which places politicians like Mr Cameron under even greater pressure to act.

‘Use it – or lose it’

High noon for the High Street

ON the day that the TUC bemoan a 30 per cent increase in the number of Yorkshire employees working more than 48 hours a week, the Association of Convenience Stores has provided a revealing insight into life on the High Street – and the extent to which family-run stores are fighting for the very existence.

Even though this neglected sector contributes more than £37bn a year to the national economy, the sacrifices made by these businesses should never be taken for granted – a quarter of shop owners work more than 70 hours a week on average and one-fifth take no holiday because their profit margins are so tight that they cannot afford the cost of hiring temporary staff.

Only goodwill is preventing the major supermarkets, and online retailers like Amazon, from increasing their stranglehold on the High Street still further and depriving shoppers of the personal service, and expertise, which remains the hallmark of the independent sector.

Yet, while many such shops are moving with the times and embracing new technology, they will only be able to meet the increased expectations of the consumer age if they’re supported by shoppers – and if town halls across Yorkshire continue to look at innovative new ways to promote the High Street so communities are not blighted by the depressing sight of empty premises symbolising decay and deprivation.

In the meantime, it is up to every family to support their local shop – and other amenities under threat – wherever possible. The mantra “use it or lose it” has never been more applicable.

Parking progress

Parallel rail investment needed

THE proposed investment to increase the size of car parks at a series of railway stations across Yorkshire is a welcome step to help encourage more people off the region’s congested roads and onto trains.

On too many occasions

in recent years efforts to tackle traffic jams have focused on punishing drivers through higher parking charges and closing car parks, rather than offering them practical and affordable alternatives.

However, offering drivers somewhere to park is only one part of the jigsaw.

Commuters want to know that when they reach the platform there is a good chance the train will be on time, the journey will be quick and that there will be seats available.

Given this, Ministers must urgently restart the “paused” programme of rail electrification and agree the new franchises for Northern and TransPennine services which hold the key to significant service improvements. Nothing less will suffice.