A LABOUR MP has urged businesses to “get real” as a party email urged members to back plans to keep Madeira Drive closed.

An email from the local campaigning forum (LCF) is asking members to “support Labour Party policy” and

urges them to sign a petition to close Madeira Drive to traffic for the rest of the year.

Lloyd Russell-Moyle, Labour MP for Brighton Kemptown, which includes the road, said: “The main thing is that there are clearly two views on the future of Madeira Drive and both ways believe it’s the only way to save it.

The Argus:

“We have had years and years of the status quo and decades of it being a glorified car park.

“We can’t go back to ‘as was’ and hope something different will happen.

“The council is delivering on its manifesto where the city centre becomes more car free and pedestrian friendly.

“I believe that if it’s another car park, then it will never be valued.

“It needs to become a destination place where people spill out on to the road and out on to the beach.

“It should remained closed until the end of the year and then at the end of the year make an assessment.”

The Argus:

An LCF email sent last week addressing “comrades” urges members to support the road’s continued closure.

However, the email did not appear to have been sent to Councillor Daniel Yates, the Labour council’s deputy chairman of the policy and resources committee.

He was left stumped after originally telling residents online that no such email existed.

Asked about the concerns of businesses in the road, who say the closure is creating immense financial pressure, Mr Russell-Moyle said: “Quite frankly, for businesses to say they’re struggling – every business is struggling.

“Get real if you think you’re struggling because the road is shut.

“We’re struggling because we’re in the middle of a pandemic.”