Highlands and Islands MSP Jamie Halcro Johnston is calling on the SNP Government to set out a plan to rescue high streets in his region, including Moray.
The Conservative MSP is backing his party’s calls for a Town Centre Coronavirus Plan to help stop closures and bankruptcies in towns right across the country.
Key industries such as hospitality, tourism and retail are all warning thousands of jobs could be lost in the coming months, due to the slump in demand and continued social distancing measures.
Mr Halcro Johnston has highlighted research from support charity Social Investment Business and journalism website Tortoise, showing spending data from debit cards in Scotland has fallen by 37% overall, only offset somewhat by a rise in grocery spending.
He said: “There is no doubt that we are now facing an economic emergency, which is compounding the Covid-19 health emergency.
“For instance, in Elgin spending has slumped by 29% since the end of March when compared with last year. I expect other towns across Moray will have experienced similar drops in activity.
“There are things that we can all do to help. Spending money in local stores, supporting locally run cafes, and paying for local traders to fix household appliances, could be the difference between people joining the job queue at Christmas, or staying on track to further their career.
“As conditions allow, the Government could take measures such as relaxing laws on outdoor eating and drinking, scrapping parking charges and institute an on-going review of the 2 metre social distancing rules
“But as well as short-term measures, we should be examining how we can make our local high streets fit for the future. That includes looking at our public transport links, as well as how local businesses can increase their online sales as some have done successfully during lockdown.
“Without radical action, we risk plunging Scotland into the deepest economic depression of modern times which will leave lasting and incalculable damage on the life changes of the young and the poorest in our society.
“As we ease lockdown measures hopefully in the coming weeks, I will certainly be encouraging everyone in Moray to support their local businesses and suppliers”.
