The Shadow Chancellor Mel Stride has promised during the Conservative Party conference on Monday that they will scrap business rates for pubs and shops if they win the next general election.
Stride said the “burden of Labour’s tax rises” has been “simply too much to bear” for many businesses across the UK.
Stride vowed to “get business rates down.
“I can announce that as a direct result of getting public spending under control, a future Conservative government will completely abolish business rates for shops and pubs on our high street.”
He added, “End of. Finished. Gone.”
It is expected this will cost £4 billion which will help to protect jobs for 250,000 businesses across the UK.
Stride called it a “radical plan to rebuild our economy,” vowing the Tories will “always be there” for businesses.
He set out plans the Tories will cut £47 billion from public spending and they will restrict benefits and cut back the civil service as will as making cuts to aid spending.
The Shadow Chancellor told the BBC that foreign workers will no longer receive benefits and will have to “work longer” or go home.
Stride said that the increasing national debt means he cannot simply say we will use all of those savings to spend more elsewhere, or to cut taxes,” he then vowed to slash taxes “when it is affordable.”
The Shadow Chancellor added, “Because we know where the alternative path leads.
“We saw that with a mini budget in 2022, so let me be clear: the Conservative Party will never, ever make fiscal commitments without spelling out exactly how they will be paid for.”
Stride will cut the civil service back to its 2016 size and aid spending will cut to 0.1% of national income.
Rain Newton-Smith, CBI Chief Executive, said, “Businesses will welcome the Shadow Chancellor’s enthusiastic backing for enterprise, as well as his steadfast commitment to fiscal responsibility.
“There will also be strong alignment with the view that the current tax burden on business is too high, and that recent measures – like the rise to employer NICs and the Employment Rights Bill – are damaging confidence, dampening investment and downgrading our growth prospects.
“While plans to abolish business rates for hospitality, leisure and retail businesses could give high streets a boost, it’s more fundamental reform of a broken business rates system that is needed if we’re to incentivise the investment our country needs. Going further by shifting from a slab to a slice-based system would make a huge difference to increasing investment for businesses of all sizes and sectors, while also simplifying the system and removing the need for additional reliefs altogether.
“Business will however be concerned by reactionary proposals to scrap key pieces of legislation, like the Climate Change Act, that have done much to boost confidence and underpin investment in high growth sectors. Firms will now want to a see a comprehensive, forward-looking vision for the economy focused on unlocking business investment.”
Leave a Comment