In this afternoon’s session of oral questions, I stood up for our excellent local high streets, which are suffering gravely under this Labour administration.
Since Labour came into power, businesses across the country have been hit with more regulation and higher taxes. When in opposition, the Chancellor and Prime Minister promised to keep taxes low and support local high streets. Despite this, the Chancellor quickly raised national insurance contributions and now we have found out that over the course of this Parliament, business rates are rising.
The Conservative Party has a fully costed plan to protect our high streets by cutting business rates for 250,000 local businesses. We will introduce a permanent 100 per cent relief up to £110,000 for retail, hospitality, and leisure businesses, ending business rates for thousands of them, and delivering substantial savings that can then be reinvested in better premises, more staff and lower prices.
I am proud of our excellent local high streets across Ruislip, Northwood and Pinner. So, I asked why the government is failing these businesses and why they won’t act to protect them.
