Could an 'Amazon tax' help to rebuild the communities that have lost social spaces?

COMMUNITIES which have lost pubs and parks could be regenerated through a tax on wealthy firms such as Amazon in an effort to sow cohesion, a new report has suggested a year on from the summer riots.

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The trouble, which spread through parts of England and Northern Ireland following the Southport killings, should have been a “wake-up call’ the author of the report said.

Disorder broke out after the murder of three girls at a Taylor Swift-themed dance class in the town on July 29 last year.

It quickly spread to other areas, and mosques, community centres and libraries were attacked while hotels housing asylum seekers were also targeted.

The far-right “capitalised on Southport’s disrepair to sow disorder’, the Institute for Public Policy Research (IPPR) said, as the paper it commissioned noted a “fight for investment in local amenities has garnered little attention” in the aftermath.

The report warned of a “pincer movement of abandonment and gentrification” which has gradually seen community spaces, such as the Southport pier which closed in 2022, lost and increased isolation of people in many areas.

Referring to previous research, the report said 50 UK pubs close for good each month, an estimated 600 youth clubs shut between 2012 and 2016 and London lost almost 10 local authority-run community spaces a year between 2018 and 2023.