A Labour government would abolish the “outdated” business rates system, the shadow chancellor has confirmed.
Speaking to the Labour Party conference in Liverpool today (26 September), Rachel Reeves said that rates were “the biggest tax problem facing British businesses”, adding that Labour would “level the playing field”.
She added: “Our unfair, outdated system of business rates punishes high street businesses to the advantage of online giants.
“We will abolish business rates and replace them with a fairer system fit for the 21st century.”
Reeves (pictured) said that when she talked to business leaders, they didn’t complain about corporation tax, but business rates. Labour, she said, would listen to what business wanted and deliver.
The shadow chancellor has talked about abolishing the system before, with some concerned about what would replace it. In today’s speech she made it clear that the system would be replaced by a similar but “fairer” system, rather than a new tax.
“That new system will mean that businesses will get revaluation discounts straight away, rather than waiting for years for their money back.”
In a speech that sought to further embed the repositioning of Labour as the party of responsible economic management and as the party of business, Reeves said the party was “proudly pro-worker and proudly pro-business”.
Reeves said that Labour would establish a National Economic Council with business, union and industry leaders to ensure that “working people and businesses were at the heart of economic decision-making”.
Today, Labour has launched its own industrial strategy and its Green Prosperity Plan, which will include an £8bn sovereign wealth fund modelled on those of Norway and Singapore.
Reeves said it would invest in British businesses, especially in the green and energy sectors, with “cranes going up, shovels in the ground, new jobs arriving”, and with “profits shared with the people of Britain”.
“Wealth that will flow back into your community and onto your high street,” she added. “This is a real plan for levelling up.”
The mini-Budget last week was an opportunity for chancellor Kwasi Kwarteng to “set out a serious response” to a national emergency, said Reeves. “And he failed.”
The message from financial markets was clear, she added. “The value of sterling is down. The cost of government borrowing is up.”
The Conservatives had “replaced levelling up with trickle-down,” she said, “an idea that has been tried and tested and has failed”.
Returning to familiar themes from earlier speeches, Reeves said that she would be “Britain’s first green chancellor”, adding that her plans, too, are all about growth. “But we want British businesses to take the lead.”
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