LOCAL MP James Morris has made a plea for people to ‘shop local’ after touring Halesowen and Rowley Regis to see for himself how small businesses were coping with the impact of Covid. And he says shopping locally should not be just Christmas, it needs to carry on in the future for local shops to survive. He toured the shops in the two areas on Small Business Saturday, a day marked out to celebrate the work and service provided by independent shops. Many have faced prolonged closures and reduced income, and Mr Morris welcomed government support, including £15.7m in payments under the Self Employment Income Support Scheme to local constituents.