𝓤𝓷𝓲𝓽𝓮𝓭 𝓝𝓮𝔀𝓼

The Conservatives have accused Labour of “hammering the high street” and piling pressure on family finances with their business rates “betrayal”.

Research from Kemi Badenoch’s party showed Labour’s business rates are hitting more high street retail premises than the online warehouses it was supposed to target.

Shadow Chancellor Sir Mel Stride MP 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.”

Mr Burnham, who is expected to replace Sir Keir Starmer as Prime Minister if he becomes an MP and launches a leadership challenge, vowed to shift the tax burden away from high street firms and towards online tech giants and their warehouses.

At the Autumn Budget last year, Labour introduced a new surcharge of 50.8 pence in the pound for “large businesses”.

But Valuation Office Agency figures showed that the “‘retail sector” makes up 17% of all such premises with rateable values over £500,000 which are therefore liable for the surcharge.

This compares to 11% for the “storage and distribution sub-sector”.

The Tories have also released a list of 2,500 shops and retail units hit by the business rate surcharge, including household names like Morrisons, Sainsbury’s, Tesco and Marks and Spencer.

Mrs Badenoch will on Monday meet Marks and Spencer boss Stuart Machin to discuss issues facing the sector.

A Labour Party spokesman said: “The Tories left our economy in a dire state after 14 years of failure – which left business and consumers paying a heavy price. Kemi Badenoch should be apologising for the damage her party did.

“Under the Tories, Britain’s high streets were hollowed out – and they failed to fix a broken business rates system while costs for firms spiralled.

“This Labour Government is committed to rebalancing the system to deliver a fairer future for high street retailers over online tech giants, as well as easing the cost of living for consumers.”