The Business Exchange Bath & Somerset Issue 5: Autumn 2017 | Page 8

BUSINESS NEWS

By Fiona Scott

Wera Hobhouse is the new Liberal Democrat MP for Bath . For some Wera seems to have come from nowhere but , in fact , she ’ s been active in politics for most of her adult life and has lived in Bath for some years . She has a strong understanding of business as her husband William set up his own textile manufacturing company in 1993 . Today Wera is getting to grips with the job she was elected to do back in June .

What do you think of Bath ? I love the vibrancy and diversity it has to offer . We moved to the city in 2014 and bought our own property a year later after selling our previous home . There is a great sense of community here , our home is near the Riverside , near Homebase , so we are very central and we absolutely love it . I also know the wider area as I did stand as the parliamentary candidate for the Liberal Democrats previously in North East Somerset covering towns like Radstock and Midsomer Norton . So I feel I ’ m really getting to know the city and the area very well and am happy to call it home . I don ’ t believe as an MP you can represent an area and not live there .

What did you do before ? I supported my husband William in his business . It ’ s a textile business reasonably close to Manchester and I helped him to start taking the business into Europe . This was alongside my political dreams of becoming an MP . Also for many years I was a councillor in the North West .

Prior to that I was a modern languages teacher in German and French as German is my first language . I also was raising our four children who are now grown up .

When did your interest in politics start ? Very early on in my childhood . I was born in Germany , I ’ m 57 , was born in 1960 into those early years of the legacy of Nazi Germany and it had an effect on me .

I grew up overwhelmed by the abyss of the Holocaust , by the feeling of ‘ how could this have happened ?’ and from very early on wanted to campaign for democracy and be a freedom fighter .

At university I campaigned for participation and for standing up for our rights . I believed – and still do – in empowering those who feel they have no voice . Even if it takes a long time , we have to stand up for what we believe in . Even today when people dismiss extreme right wing views as ‘ niche ’ or ‘ not to be taken seriously ’ I remember that everyone should ‘ beware beginnings ’.

How did the Holocaust affect your family ? My mother was quarter Jewish and many of her relatives had to flee – I still have family in Norway today as a result of that flight . Some of those relatives lost their family members to the concentration camps and persecution .

My mother lived with the impact her whole life and I would never want to see anything like that again . My mother was not allowed to go to university as she was not seen as ‘ pure of race ’ even though she was a quarter Jewish . Even later , when socialising she would call someone out on racist views – even if the rest of the group was embarrassed – if they were ‘ closet ’ racists she would say so and highlight their unreasonable views .

My father wasn ’ t Jewish and wasn ’ t involved with the Nazis but by the early 1930s it was very dangerous for anyone to show open resistance . You had to try to survive in a terrible climate as a German citizen .

Today when I visit countries such as Poland & Lithuania and see the reality of what was done to millions of people I know I must do my bit to never let that happen again .

Why did you choose the Liberal Democrats as your political party of choice ? I ’ m a passionate pro-European because of my background and so is my husband . So for me the Liberal Democrats represented what I believed in – Europe and also the environment .

The health and future of our planet is very important to me and is , in my view , the most pressing issue we have to face . I personally believed that within Europe we have done good things for our environment and we need to be mindful of what happens now .

I don ’ t want to see us starting to pollute our beaches or rivers as we pull out of Europe – thinking we are not bound by legislation which has done great things for how we live and the world we live in .

How do you feel about small business ? I have felt both the joy and challenge of running your own business . The energy and sacrifice required and the 24 / 7 commitment required because I saw my husband do it . It ’ s exciting and it brings challenges and opportunities .

It ’ s also a community with many different points of view . The challenge then becomes being able to speak with one voice . A manufacturing business has very different needs to an IT business or a tourism company .

What are the challenges being faced by businesses in Bath- in your experience ? One of the major problems is the ability to find the right premises to build and grow a business . As a World Heritage site this can bring challenges .

There is also the problem of extremely high property prices which lead to extremely high rents . Currently we have too many empty shops in central Bath , probably for this reason . It ’ s not just a question of business rates . It ’ s rent costs and high property prices that also affects ordinary people trying to find somewhere to live locally . Corporation tax avoidance is an issue . I don ’ t really accept the argument about keeping it to a low level . It is a tax on profit but we have to stop big companies getting away with tax avoidance .

However I do believe in Bath – and other places – the cost of renting business space or extending business premises needs to be addressed . The effect is that some businesses will move out of the city to afford to expand .

Another issue is broadband speed and the monopoly one provider seems to have over the city . This must be addressed as it ’ s now business critical to offer better speeds and hopefully more choice .

What are your top three priorities in representing Bath at a government level ?

1 . Brexit – getting this as right as it can be is vital for us all . I ’ m pro-European , I ’ m not ashamed of that but we have to do our best with what is going to happen . This will focus about 80 per cent of the Government ’ s attention in my view . It will affect business of that there is no doubt .

2 . Climate Change – as we move away from Europe we must not become de-regulated around our commitments to our environment . We must protect our planet both locally , nationally and globally .

3 . Grenfell – the fall-out from this disaster will be felt for years to come . Housing and fire safety will now become priorities and as I ’ ve been given the shadow role for communities & local government within the Lib Dem MPs , it ’ s something which I will be looking at closely .

@ Wera _ Hobhouse