Previous Labour governments transformed our cities. Now it’s time for us to radically improve our towns.

Previous Labour governments transformed our cities. Now it’s time for us to radically improve our towns.

Patrick Hurley is the Labour MP for Southport When I was a child, my home town of Prescot in Merseyside was thriving. The centrepiece of the high street was Lennons Supermarket, a local chain, and the rest of the shops were overwhelmingly made up of independent businesses. There was the Margaret Rose clothes shop, Graham’s toiletries, Showering’s the family butchers, a locally-owned video rental shop on the corner opposite Ray’s Bakery, and so o…