Business rates to make 'ghost towns' of UK high streets

Some of the country's biggest retailers have written to the chancellor, Rachel Reeves, warning that the government's plans to overhaul business rates risk turning UK high streets into “ghost towns”.

- Rachel Sylvester

The Retail Jobs Alliance, which represents Tesco, Sainsbury’s, Kingfisher, Morrisons, Asda, Primark and M&S, says thousands of jobs could be lost as a result. The changes could “accelerate the decline of high streets, reducing footfall and creating a cycle of economic downturn,” says the letter, which is also signed by Usdaw, the Labour-affiliated shop workers' union, and the business partnership High Streets UK.