‘Rachel Reeves is never here!’ Locals turn on Chancellor as town where crime is soaring.H
Business owners and residents in Rachel Reeves’s constituency have blasted the state of the towns which they say she never visits.
Ahmet Berktaş, 59, says his café has been broken into 8 times in 10 years (Image: Andy Commins)
Rachel Reeves is facing a revolt in her own constituency, with residents complaining they feel abandoned as the area is blighted by soaring crime rates.
Pudsey, part of Reeves’ Leeds West and Pudsey constituency where she has been MP since 2010, has seen crime rates increase in recent years, leaving businesses struggling.
Ahmet Berktas, 59 Owner of Café Rain told Express.co.uk: “My shop has been broken into eight times in ten years, there are so many problems.
“The police could do something about it, there is CCTV everywhere and they know who the criminals are.
“Last year there were two guys who came here, smashed in the glass, took things and came back two hours later to do it again. Cars have been smashed, other shops damaged and it ends up costing me so much money in insurance. Crime is the biggest problem here.
Residents of Pudsey, the constituency’s biggest town say the streets are “disgusting” (Image: Andy Commins / Daily Mirror)
Business owners say crime is their biggest issue (Image: Andy Commins / Daily Mirror)
“Rachel Reeves can help, she is the MP, why else did we vote for her? I voted for her but I don’t know if I would vote for her again because MPs these days do nothing.”
Several locals also complained that one of the worst areas in the town is the bus station, rife with anti-social behaviour and adjacent to a park where local teenagers regularly congregate.
Police figures show that 136 crimes were reported in the month of October, with anti-social behaviour, shoplifting and violence and sexual offences the most common crimes.
According to crimerate.co.uk, Pudsey’s crime rates are 7% higher than the average for Yorkshire and a staggering 41% higher than the national average.
Mr Bertas also hit out at the state of the streets, which he said were dirty and poorly maintained.
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The working-class town of Armley needs “knocking down” according to win business owner (Image: Andy Commins / Daily Mirror)
The business owner said: “There are so many people with dogs and they leave such a mess. Everyday I have to clean it every morning from outside the shop. Nobody bothers to do anything about it.”
Pensioner Jeff Wood, 82, agreed and hit out at Reeves and the lack of help from local authorities.
He said: “The streets round here are disgusting, Reeves does nothing. There are a few local volunteers who try their best but they don’t get any help or recognition.”
Mr Wood is one of the many traditional, working-class Labour voters who has turned his back on the party.
He said: “I won’t vote Labour ever again, they don’t do nothing for the old aged pensioners. The worst thing they have done is taken the £300 off of us. We know so many old aged pensioners who are in their own home and I don’t know how they are going to manage.”
Armley Town Centre – “Full of vape shops and Eastern European shops” – (Image: Andy Commins / Daily Mirror)
Throughout the town, shops are boarded up, bins are overflowing and locals complain of the lack of safety and pride in their town. Across the constituency, the picture is no better.
Paul Ellis owns a tattoo parlour suburb of Armley and bemoans the state of his local town.
“The place needs knocking down and starting again. All there is vape shops and Eastern European shops all selling the same thing.
“Reeves is never here, I doubt she has ever been to Armley, what does she care? They’re all the same: the rich get richer and the poor get poorer.”
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