THE Press readers are used to Tim Murgatroyd’s selective use of facts to trot out his far-left message.

This time Government policy is blamed for empty shops in York city centre as folks have less money to spend (“Retail therapy for High Street”, The Press, August 8).

This ignores the fact that UK retail sales are at an all time high.

People are shopping on the internet as it is convenient and often cheaper.

The demise of the corner shop in the 70s was brought about by those new fangled supermarkets.

Times change. But I would argue that the main factor is probably out-of-town shopping, the 49 empty shops in York are eclipsed by the 120 at York Designer Outlet and dozens more at Clifton Moor, Monks Cross and Vangarde.

As ever, Tim’s solution is to tax the rich and large corporations.

However, this ignores the effects of the Laffer Curve, which tries to define the optimum level of taxation beyond which revenues

drop.

The OBR have stated that the UK is “strolling across the summit of the Laffer Curve”.

As for corporations, a rise in tax and costs due to an increase in the Living Wage will lead to an exodus of companies to countries with lower taxes and lower wage rates such as Poland where labour costs are just less than half those in the UK.

Mike Huffington,

Walmgate, York