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The hidden plight of seaside Britain
Great Yarmouth trades council president JOHN CANNELL and secretary LEE SUTTON puncture the Tories’ lies and show Morning Star editor Ben Chacko how their policies have dragged down the town
Welcome to a Low-wage Town: Holidays Come At a Price, Zero-Hour Contracts and Poverty Pay’ banner that ellicited much support and annoyed one or two bosses. John Cannell (first from left) and Lee Sutton (fifth, squatting)

CONSERVATIVE Party chairman Brandon Lewis calls his Great Yarmouth constituency “a fantastic example of the British tourism industry.”

Like the Tory-run council, Lewis is friendly with the owners of the hotels and caravan parks, praising them for attracting millions of families to the seaside town each year.

But speak to local trade unionists and the picture isn’t quite so rosy. On a recent visit I was taken on a tour of the centre by trades council president John Cannell and secretary Lee Sutton, who pointed to the many boarded-up stores and the almost empty shopping arcade as evidence of a “town in major decline.”

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