LABOUR'S TAXES ARE 'SHAMEFUL ASSAULT' ON HIGH STREETS

KEMI Badenoch accused Labour of a “shameful assault” on high streets, amid warnings that small firms face an apocalypse.

- by MARTYN BROWN and JONATHAN WALKER

The Tory leader pledged she would reverse the decline of town centres and kickstart a jobs boom.

She vowed to end the scourge of boarded-up shops, which she blames on Labour’s punishing jobs tax and high business rates.

Mrs Badenoch said: “I have spoken to businesses across the country, all of whom say that Labour's endless tax rises and red tape are making it so much harder for them to stay afloat.

“This is a shameful assault on the very heart of so many communities, and it cannot continue.”

She warned: “This government is hammering our high streets out of existence.”

The blistering attack comes as a report reveals that soaring business rates, rising wage costs and growing energy bills are hitting retail hard, with some 38 stores having to shut up shop every day. MPs on the Commons business and trade committee inquiry warned that small businesses are facing pressures worse than those which they endured in the pandemic.

It said that ministers need to make major reforms in order to halt the decline on the high street such as by cutting costs, overhauling business rates and ending the late payment of bills.

Liam Byrne MP, Labour chairman of the committee, said that a “more coherent and ambitious plan” is required.

Evidence from Sage shows that small firms were owed £112billion in unpaid invoices by the end of 2024. It also indicated that Labour’s last two Budgets have heaped considerable further pressures on to small businesses.

Shadow Business Secretary Andrew Griffith said the result of the party’s taxes was “fewer jobs, fewer shops and more boarded-up high streets”.