We all make mistakes clearly. Tax free shopping in the UK was abolished under Boris Johnson in 2021 when Kemi Badenoch was a treasury minister and publically supported the move.

I have never really been interested in politics but was struck by Kemi Badenochs visit to Bicester Village this week and her article in the Telegraph about how the removal of duty free shopping for visitors is impacting the wider economy.

She talked about Bicester Village a luxury retail outlet I like to visit and shop a few times a year and how their sales had dropped 25% compared to other ventures in European cities where the numbers were up 30% on average.

Taking away the tax break for visitors stops people coming, why would they come to the UK and spend when they can go elsewhere and save.

The UK government may get the 2 billion back in the treasury but how short sighted is this policy? We all know when we go on holiday we spend on everything from hotels, eating out, transport, taxis, entertainment, all the things we don’t splurge on when we are at home.

People in the UK can’t afford to shop in the UK, they can barely afford to eat or put petrol in the car so unless we can attract overseas visitors we just cannot get business (growth) going.

As Danny Dyer said in an interview recently, who is Andy Burnham? I think the sentiment was why was someone in charge who hasn’t actually been elected by the country, there hasn’t been a general election. He hasn’t been elected by the people. He’s kind of just slid into the position because of a “good job done in Manchester”. I remember Andy Burnham as a pretty cringe worthy ambitious health secretary in Gordon Browns cabinet 20 years ago.

But is that experience and record sufficient to hold the most powerful position in the UK where we democratically elect our leaders?

Like I said I am not political but I don’t want to live in a poor depressed “socialist” place where tourists won’t visit, the wealthy are leaving and businesses are struggling to stay afloat. It’s depressing when crime is on the rise and you afraid to go out, worrying you are going to robbed, attacked or feel bad for people sleeping rough and asking for handouts. Fortunately we didn’t see any homeless people at Bicester although they were at the service station on the M40 just before the Bicester exit. We did wonder how they had got there without a car?

I went to Bicester village to enjoy their 20% off Autumn event last week and was really struck by how few people were actually there, I couldn’t not believe it. It was the quietest I’d ever seen it, why the Kemi Badenoch visit and what she was saying really resonated with me. Even though the staff at Bicester are going over the top with programs and offers, sign up here, a new concierge station, do this, get that, it all seems a bit desperate. The data tracking and giving over your phone number, your birthday even to enjoy any shopping discounts felt a bit intrusive to me. It got like hard times and when you are one of a handful of shoppers you can actually see why getting as much data as possible on every customer is vital. Except it puts you off. Being a Yorkshire Lass who used to live in Pangbourne, close to Reading in Berkshire the Beryl Cook exhibition was a nice surprise and I was happy to see Barbour back at Bicester, surprised but happy to find Fortnum and Mason, moving up north to find a new audience and Californian yoga brand Vuori handing out wellness shots to get something going but a few brands I like had also departed, Anine Bing, Wolford, The Designer Exchange, LK Bennett went into administration anyway and there were quite a few empty concessions. People have moved out. The place felt a bit hollow with no people.

Interestingly the accessible free carpark within close walking distance was packed with cars, we ended up paying £35 to valet for easy access to the shops. Not sure who is taking all the spaces though, must be the businesses. It might be smart to have staff walk and customers park closer because the expensive parking to be close by, especially if you plan to really shop, would put people off. And the parking staff weren’t able to explain the benefit of the premium service, which is marketed as an extra 10% off except we found out it was at each store’s discretion. To be honest it felt a bit embarrassing asking for it only to be told it wasn’t available.

It made me think if we don’t get something going soon and turn this ship around I fear the whole labour movement will bring the UK to a grinding halt with rising benefits, rising taxes and rising spending on things we just can’t afford.

We’ve got to back business not benefits because without thriving business there are no jobs and no money for anyone.

We’ve got to stop asylum seekers coming and make it less attractive for people who can’t work legally or won’t work period.

It’s time to ask the country if they think this Labour leader is the right man for the job.

If he gets elected fair and square then so be it, but at the moment I think it’s time a woman took over.