Tories pledge to scrap business rates for shops and pubs

The Conservatives will abolish business rates for high street shops and pubs if they win the next election, the shadow chancellor has promised.

Sir Mel Stride made the commitment as he addressed the Conservative Party conference on Monday, saying the “burden of Labour’s tax rises” had been “simply too much to bear” for many businesses.

Pledging to “get business rates down”, he said: “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.”

Setting out what he called a “radical plan to rebuild our economy”, he pledged that the Tories would “always be there” for businesses.

Earlier in his speech, Sir Mel had set out plans to cut £47 billion from public spending by restricting welfare payments, shrinking the Civil Service, and slashing aid spending.

The proposals would see people with “less severe” mental health problems offered treatment rather than benefits, with Sir Mel saying this would help them to “a better life”.

He also said a future Conservative government would make savings by restricting benefits to UK citizens, although during media interviews on Monday morning he admitted that EU nationals with settled status would also be eligible for welfare.

But, apart from plans to scrap business rates and offer a £5,000 national insurance rebate for people getting their first full-time job, he played down the prospect of further swingeing tax cuts.

Arguing that rising national debt meant he could not “simply say we will use all of those savings to spend more elsewhere, or to cut taxes”, he promised to only cut taxes “when it is affordable”.

He 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.”