Conservatives accuse Labour of taxing the weekly shop
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Supermarkets and other high street shops bearing brunt of business
rates betrayal - yet Burnham vows to double down on failed policy
2,500 bricks-and-mortar retail sites hit by Labour's new surcharge,
while online giants' warehouses - Labour's intended target – take
less of the burden Families paying the price at the checkout for
Labour's tax and red tape addiction Today [Monday 8th June], the
Conservative Party are accusing Labour of hammering the high
street...Request free trial
Today [Monday 8th June], the Conservative Party are accusing Labour of hammering the high street and piling yet more pressure on family finances with a business rates betrayal. Labour leadership hopeful Andy Burnham last week doubled down on Labour's broken promise to shift the tax burden away from high street firms and towards online tech giants and their warehouses. This is despite the policy being a total failure. Conservative research shows Labour's business rates surcharge is hitting far more high street retail premises than the online warehouses it was supposed to target, which directly contradicts the Chancellor Rachel Reeves' Budget pledge. That means higher costs at the checkout for hardworking families already struggling with the cost of living. Now Burnham has made the same failed pledge. Prior to the General Election, Labour promised to “replace the business rates system, so we can raise the same revenue but in a fairer way,” adding that their “new system will level the playing field between the high street and online giants.” The Chancellor Rachel Reeves also claimed in her 2025 Budget speech that she would “introduce permanently lower tax rates for over 750,000 retail, hospitality and leisure properties, the lowest tax rates since 1991”, to be “paid for through higher rates on properties worth £500,000 or more, like the warehouses used by online giants.” The reverse has happened. New Conservative Party research reveals bricks-and-mortar businesses are in fact bearing the brunt of the hike, rather than online firms' warehouses as Labour pledged. Far more retail premises are paying Labour's business rates new surcharge than warehouses. The Conservatives have today released a list of all 2,500 shops and retail units hit by the surcharge, including household names like Morrisons, Sainsbury's, Tesco and Marks and Spencer. At the Autumn Budget last year, Labour introduced a new surcharge of 50.8 pence in the pound for ‘large businesses'. Yet Valuation Office Agency figures show that the ‘retail sector' makes up 17 per cent of all such premises with rateable values over £500,000 (and therefore liable for the surcharge), compared to 11 per cent for the ‘Storage & Distribution Sub-sector'. Business rates are soaring to record highs on Labour's watch, and the playing field has been skewed even further in favour of online giants and against everyday retailers. Labour's tax raid is having direct consequences on families, as firms pass their higher costs onto shoppers. Inflation has been above target for 19 months, and food price inflation is higher than overall inflation. Ordinary families are paying more and more just to get the basics each week. Today Kemi Badenoch will visit Marks and Spencer and speak to CEO Stuart Machin about the damage being done to supermarkets and other high-street retailers by the Government's barrage of taxes and red tape. Alongside soaring business rates, firms are struggling with the cost of Rachel Reeves' National Insurance hike, Angela Rayner's employer red tape and higher energy bills exacerbated by Ed Miliband's refusal to Get Britain Drilling in the North Sea. These costs are bankrupting businesses and destroying jobs, with unemployment rising almost every month since Labour came to office. This Labour Government is not on the side of the businesses that fuel our economy and create jobs. The Conservatives are the only party with a plan to back business by scrapping business rates entirely for thousands of pubs, shops and cafes on our high streets, cutting energy bills through our Cheap Power Plan and rolling back the most damaging parts of Labour's employer red tape, lowering costs for firms and for hardworking families. Sir Mel Stride MP, Shadow Chancellor of the Exchequer, said: “Keir Starmer and Rachel Reeves are taxing the weekly shop. Their business rates betrayal is hammering the places families rely on for their everyday shopping, driving up costs for ordinary people. “Having promised to deliver lower bills for the high street and target the online giants, Labour have done the reverse. And now Andy Burnham is doubling down. “Whoever leads them, they cannot be trusted with the economy. Only the Conservatives will Get Britain Working Again.” Andrew Griffith MP, Shadow Business Secretary, said: “Labour do not understand how business works, and their incompetence is having serious consequences for the firms that fuel our economy. “Their obsession with higher tax and more red tape means higher costs and fewer jobs for ordinary, hardworking people who are already struggling to make ends meet. “The Conservatives will deliver Stronger High Streets and give businesses the environment in which to grow.” ENDS Notes to Editors:
Labour have hammered businesses with rates since taking office:
The Conservatives will cut business rates for 250,000 businesses: We will introduce business rates relief for 250,000 retail, hospitality and leisure businesses. The Conservatives will introduce a permanent 100 per cent relief, worth up to £110,000 per business a year, for retail, hospitality and leisure businesses. This will end business rates for thousands of them, and delivering substantial savings that can then be reinvested in better premises, more staff and lower prices. |