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If councils are going to make life difficult for businesses, why should they not leave?

An open letter to Wael Sawan, Chief Executive of Shell

Dear Mr Sawan,

I am writing with an invitation: if Shell feels underappreciated in Lambeth, we would love to see the company return to Westminster and would be delighted to help you relocate.

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We believe you would find Westminster has a warmer atmosphere than the one recently created by Lambeth’s new Green Party-led council. Their recent social media posts highlighted your company’s headquarters being in the borough, cited £7.4 billion made in three months, added an exploding-head emoji and asked Shell to contribute to its climate resilience plan as an extra local “tax” based on your office location. The message seemed clear: you are successful, you are here, and we think you should pay more.

As Deputy Leader of Conservative-led Westminster City Council and Cabinet Member for Growth, I would like to offer a different message. We welcome businesses. We want them to succeed, expand and employ more people. We understand that commercial success creates the wealth on which public services depend.

Britain cannot afford a political culture in which every successful business is treated as an embarrassment until it produces another cheque. Businesses create huge local value without being seen only as local cash machines.

Councils have serious responsibilities that require funding. Westminster is not alone in looking at large cuts to our funding from central government in the coming years. But this does not give us a claim on the worldwide operations of companies that have their headquarters within our boundaries.

Your company should pay the taxes it owes, meet its legal obligations and be held accountable for wrongdoing, just like any other and I am sure you will do just that. Environmental costs should be addressed through properly designed rules and democratic decisions about taxation and regulation. Locating your headquarters in a borough should not create an additional debt to the local council for activities around the world.

There is nothing objectionable about asking businesses to support worthwhile local projects. Many willingly support charities, schools and training. But publicly pressuring your company to pay into a council fund because it has its headquarters nearby amounts to an attempted extra tax on its presence, however voluntary the payment is supposed to be.

Tax something and you tend to get less of it. Here, the risk is less investment, fewer local jobs and less spending with neighbouring businesses. You have choices about where Shell locates and expands and we would like you to consider Westminster.

Your offices already support employees and suppliers, generate demand for nearby shops and restaurants, and provide opportunities for people building their careers. Those contributions deserve recognition.

In Westminster, you would be joining businesses whose operations span the world. Marks and Spencer is based in the redeveloped Paddington basin, as are the European offices of Microsoft. Burberry is based in Pimlico. Rio Tinto has its London head office in St James’s Square, while BAE Systems is headquartered in Carlton Gardens.

Nor is this simply an inheritance from the past. In 2022, Diageo moved its global headquarters from Park Royal to Great Marlborough Street in Soho, bringing the company behind Guinness and Johnnie Walker into the heart of the West End.

The international reach of each of these global businesses supports investment, skilled employment and supply chains far beyond our boundaries while employing Westminster residents and benefitting the local and national economies.

The economic stakes are considerable. Westminster generated £94.8 billion in economic output in 2023, around four per cent of the UK total. In 2025/26, we collected more than £2 billion in business rates — roughly seven per cent of all business rates collected in England. Businesses in this one London borough help sustain public spending across the country. Encouraging them to expand is a national interest as well as a local responsibility.

In September, we published Westminster’s first-ever Growth Statement, making explicit what you should expect from our council: a commitment to attracting investment, supporting enterprise and helping businesses grow. Its guiding principle is a “towards yes” approach, using our powers and influence to unlock investment and opportunity. It connects that ambition to employment, skills and career progression for residents, including young people and care leavers.

That should mean something when you approach us. You should find people willing to listen, explain what is possible and work through obstacles. Planning, licensing and other council functions here understand their part in making a place prosperous.

That requires judgement. I live in Soho and represent the West End. A successful commercial district must also be somewhere people can live. Clean streets, safety, reliable services and consideration for neighbours matters. Your employees and your business need these things too. Performing our everyday duties well makes Westminster more attractive to employers and improves residents’ lives.

The council has a role to help residents access those opportunities through skills, employment support and connections with employers. That work has better prospects when businesses are growing and recruiting, so we don’t just want you to relocate your business as it is – we want it to grow even more. That will drive the Westminster, London and British economies.

Your company’s connection with Westminster is already written into the riverside. Shell-Mex House on the Strand stands as testament to that. Shell has helped shape Westminster before, and we would welcome the opportunity to renew that relationship.

If a return interests you, I would be happy to discuss premises, investment, employment and what we can do to assist.

We want you here, we want you to grow, and we want our residents to share in your success. My door is open and I look forward to hearing from you.

Yours sincerely,

Councillor Timothy Barnes

Deputy Leader and Cabinet Member for Growth and Planning

Westminster City Council

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Last Monday, I had the enormous privilege of taking descendants of the Jarrow marchers to 10 Downing Street to meet our prime minister, Andy Burnham, 90 years after their ancestors made the long journey from Jarrow to London. We brought with us the original wooden petition box carried by the marchers in 1936, along with a copy of their historic petition.

For me, as Jarrow’s member of parliament and the successor to Ellen Wilkinson, it was the highlight of an extraordinary few weeks commemorating the 90th anniversary of the Jarrow Crusade.

Back in October 1936, 200 unemployed men set off on a 300-mile journey to London. Their town had been devastated by the closure of Palmer’s shipyard; unemployment was rife, and families were struggling to put food on the table. They weren’t asking for the world: they wanted jobs and the chance to provide a decent life for their families.

They walked all that way, only to be denied the meeting with the prime minister they had hoped for. Ninety years later, I was determined that their descendants would receive the welcome their ancestors deserved.

And what a welcome it was! The families were invited inside Number 10, where the prime minister sat down with them over a cup of tea, listened to their stories and received a copy of that original petition. It was a wonderful, emotional occasion, and I was incredibly proud to help make it happen.

But the commemorations have been about much more than that one day. Throughout this year, I’ve wanted to make sure the story of the Jarrow March reaches a new generation, particularly young people.

We’ve developed education packs for schools, working with Jarrow School, organised a poetry competition for young people across Jarrow and Gateshead East, and I’ve published a commemorative book featuring historic photographs, some never seen before, alongside the fantastic poems written by our competition winners.

I’ve also had the privilege of speaking at a special anniversary service at Christ Church in Jarrow, unveiling a plaque celebrating our shipbuilding heritage at Balaena Tyne, and organising an exhibition and reception in parliament, bringing together descendants, local people and colleagues from across the political spectrum.

It’s been quite a busy October!

One of the things I’ve enjoyed most has been hearing the family stories passed down through generations. The Jarrow March might be famous across the country, but for people in Jarrow it is a deeply personal part of our history. These were ordinary working men who decided they couldn’t simply accept what was happening to their town.

That’s also why I was so keen to secure a Westminster Hall debate last week. I wanted to put the courage of those 200 men, their experiences and the challenges Jarrow still faces firmly on the parliamentary record.

Westminster Hall debates

Ninety years ago, my predecessor Ellen Wilkinson stood up in parliament and spoke passionately about the poverty and unemployment facing her constituents. I felt it was important to follow in her footsteps and make sure the lessons of the March were heard in Westminster once again.

Because while a great deal has changed since 1936, too many families are still struggling to make ends meet, and too many communities have gone without the investment and opportunities they deserve.

I’m proud of what this Labour government is doing, from strengthening workers’ rights through the Employment Rights Act to investing in shipbuilding and delivering £20 million through Pride in Place to support Jarrow’s future.

But there’s still plenty more to do. I speak to constituents every week who are worried about their jobs, struggling with the cost of living or simply trying to give their children a better start in life. Their experiences should be shaping the decisions we make in Parliament.

As we look towards the centenary of the March in 2036, I want its legacy to inspire what happens next in Jarrow.

For me, that’s what these commemorations have been all about: remembering those who stood up for our town, celebrating the community spirit that still exists today, and making sure the next generation has the opportunities those men walked 300 miles to demand.

“Rough sleeping should no longer be accepted as a fact of life”

Most of us cannot imagine spending a night sleeping on the streets. Yet for some people in Peterborough, that is still the reality, writes Andrew Pakes MP.

Behind every person sleeping rough there is a story of hardship. It might be family breakdown, poor mental health, addiction, debt, losing a job, or simply a run of bad luck that is hard to recover from. Those stories were at the heart of the conversation this week, when I attended the first Rough Sleeping Summit at Number 10 Downing Street. Ministers, local leaders, charities and businesses were all brought together to take on one mission: ending rough sleeping for good.

It was a chance to share Peterborough's experiences, raise the challenges we face locally and learn from what is working elsewhere. What struck me most was the Prime Minister's personal commitment. From his first day in Downing Street, he has been clear that rough sleeping should no longer be accepted as a fact of life.

That commitment is being backed by real investment. In September, Peterborough was given £500,000 to support work already under way in our city. That was part of £442 million announced nationally in August to offer everyone a route off the streets by Christmas. A further £432 million has now been announced to keep that support going until the end of this Parliament. That brings new investment to £874 million since the Prime Minister made his pledge in July.

But the summit also made clear that money alone will not solve this. Government has a vital role to play, but so do charities, housing associations, businesses and local communities. That is why so many came forward with real pledges. The National Housing Federation will work with housing associations to find at least 2,000 homes and bedspaces, while organisations like the Salvation Army, IKEA, Morrisons and Virgin Media O2 have all committed to playing their part. The Government is also giving councils new powers to refer homeless households directly to housing associations, which will no longer be able to turn families away without good reason.

That spirit of partnership will be familiar to anyone in Peterborough, because we see it here every day. I recently highlighted in Parliament the work of the Light Project, which supports people experiencing homelessness, including veterans with nowhere else to turn. It does far more than offer emergency help. It helps people rebuild their confidence and take the first steps towards independence. Faith plays an important role in Peterborough with our churches and other places of worship being central to our foodbanks and support for those in need.

There is no quick fix and no single answer. But with sustained investment, practical support and strong local partnerships, we can make real progress. Peterborough has always been a city that looks after its own. By working together, we can end rough sleeping in our city, because everyone deserves a place to call home.