Can’t thank everyone enough for their response to this, donations in the form of money and items to auction off has been unbelievable, will keep everyone updated how it goes and what total we can achieve for the family 🎯
Heartbreakingly one of our darting community from Norfolk has been told he has only weeks to live due to an aggressive form of cancer aged only 36.
We’ve very quickly organising one of his wishes which is one final darts competition this Monday in Norwich.
1/2
Any items we can raffle off to raise money for his young 10 year old daughter would be massively appreciated or any donations how big or small would be so appreciated, please give this message a share, thank you 🎯❤️
https://t.co/MEA35K8g3o
And there you have it … a completely explicit statement placing certain clubs outside of others for nakedly financial reasons - absolutely nothing to do with sport. The game is completely rigged.
Why I love Great Yarmouth. I’m not going to pretend I grew up in Great Yarmouth or spent my entire adult life working in Great Yarmouth, because I haven’t. By a bizarre chain of events, I am the area’s MP and it is now my absolute favourite corner of England.
Has it been forgotten and let down? Absolutely. Would I change anything about the local people there? Absolutely not.
They are the proper, decent English men and women that make this country so fantastic.
Absolutely zero BS, and that’s why I love them.
It hasn’t been infected with London’s wokery and nonsense. It remains proper England.
It’s like stepping in a time machine, going back a few decades. People still say hello. Everybody knows everybody. I’ve never seen anything like it. A genuine community. They care about each other and their town. I love it.
Of course there are issues, we all know about them. I want to talk about the positives.
Great Yarmouth, Gorleston, Caister, Bradwell, Hopton, Hemsby, Martham, Scratby, Belton, Burgh Castle, Winterton, Ormesby, Fleggburgh - I could go on. Such a unique and beautiful little part of the country.
So much of it now relies on tourism, and I am doing my absolute best to encourage people to come and visit our area - for a weekend away, with or without children, it is absolutely perfect.
The racecourse, aquarium, theme parks, beaches, waterways, pubs, circus, the history of the place and so much more.
Affordable, so much to do and fantastic fun. It is proper England.
It is the single greatest honour of my professional life to be the area’s MP, and I’d like to think I have done my small bit to help put Great Yarmouth back on the map.
We all hear MPs moaning about what’s wrong so much, but sometimes it’s important to recognise what’s right too. And there is so much right about Great Yarmouth.
I hope you will consider visiting to see why I love it so much.
Unfortunately work and child haven't allowed until now but we're back!
High quality and breathable custom darts shirts! 👕
🌟 Full or Half Collar
🌟 Zip or Buttons
🌟 Optional pocket
🌟 Tall and short sizes available
Get in touch for more info! 📨
📆 #OnThisDay in 2️⃣0️⃣1️⃣1️⃣…
🔰🎙️ "Pacheco on the rebound... 𝗙𝗜𝗩𝗘-𝗢𝗡𝗘 AT PORTMAN ROAD TO NORWICH CITY."
⚽️ Surman (13'), McAuley OG (24'), @JacksonSimeon (73'), Martin (80'), @dani37pacheco (90+4')
#NCFC
Small business is one of my passions. I’ve watched in horror over the last couple of decades how our high streets have depressingly decayed away, and nobody in Westminster seems to care.
We need a complete overhaul of how we approach business and the high street. The rot is so deep and so embedded, meagre reform is not enough. We need total, radical and decisive change.
There’s no point just moaning and criticising. We need detail. We need policy. We need solutions.
Some thoughts on how to restore the British high street…
Clean streets:
Give councils more power to tackle derelict high street properties
Back community schemes - flower beds, art displays and so on
Increase fines for littering (show some respect!)
Bins, bins and more bins - and actually empty them
Brutally crack down on graffiti - increase specialised removal teams
A cleanliness council league table - name and shame
Use community service teams, and non-violent low level prisoners, to remove graffiti
Crack down on fly tipping, absolute zero tolerance
Tax/business relief:
Abolish business rates for small high street businesses
Shift the tax burden to online giants
Tax holiday for small businesses - don’t pay for three years
Scrap IR35 (awful bloody regulation)
Double the VAT threshold
Tax relief for apprenticeships
Rectify the mismatch between Government rhetoric and HMRC brutal tax collection
Parking:
Introduce time-limited free parking zones in select car parks to reestablish footfall
Abolish extortionate parking charges that push people to out-of-town retail parks
Public transport discounts to bring shoppers into town centres (encourage park and ride)
Red tape:
Slash planning bureaucracy for retail/hospitality
Simplify licensing laws (treat people like adults)
Overhaul health and safety laws, especially for small businesses - PLEASE show a modicum of common sense
Introduce fast track permits on outdoor seating for eating/drinking
Publish a council ‘red tape league table’ to drive accountability (show average response times)
Ease laws around closing times - if people want to stay out late and responsibly enjoy a drink, I say go for it
Save the British pub - cut beer duty, treat pubs as community assets, slash VAT, reward responsible pubs, force councils to treat landlords with some respect
Safety:
Massively increase police presence in town centres
Brutally crack down on shoplifters
Deport illegal migrants (goes without saying)
Create zero tolerance zones for street drinking, drugs and aggressive begging
Enforce proper permits on street musicians - yes to talented individuals who are adding to the atmosphere. Absolutely no to annoying and infuriating beggars/‘musicians', who let’s be honest are often here illegally (immigration checks required)
Crack down on loitering and intimidating mobs of young males
Property use:
Use compulsory purchase to reclaim long-vacant/derelict units
Enable fast track change of use for properties
Empower local traders/business associations or community groups to use empty space
Boost local markets - cut fees, local trader loyalty scheme, partner with colleges for apprenticeships, licence reform
Create shopkeeper mentoring schemes to support new business owners
Establish national task force for high street fraud detection
Massively increase on-the-spot trading checks - especially for high risk businesses (vape shops, new barbers, etc)
Immigration checks, and lots of them - aim for premises with no visible custom
Brutally crack down on fraudulent ‘skilled visas’ by suspicious businesses
Community:
Proudly celebrate our British culture across our high streets
Our national flags, everywhere - get the bunting out!
Give military veterans priority access to high street business grants
Support charities that help people to help themselves (King’s trust, DofE)
Restore high street architecture with national heritage funding
Involve pupils in town clean-ups and other community events
Ring-fenced funding for cleaning, guarding, and restoring war memorials
A national competition for the best high street regeneration
Force the public sector to buy from local businesses where possible
Go to your local high street and look around - the current approach is NOT working.
Yes, all of this may cost money in the short term. But I guarantee that the economic boost will pay for any investment multiple times over. Councils/Government manage to waste enough of our money on utter nonsense - they can find the money for national high street renewal.
Government doesn’t drive growth - businesses do, individuals do. Incentivise them!!!
Because let’s be honest. Most high streets are filthy, unsafe and just not a pleasant place to shop.
If we do what we’ve always done, we’ll get what we’ve always got.
Our establishment goes after decent hardworking Brits, but ignores the crooks! It’s backwards.
All very depressing, but it’s not too late.
We need a radical plan to restore Britain’s high streets - they are worth saving.