Red wall Tories have called for a cut in business rates, claiming the much-hated tax hits the North and Midlands hardest.
The intervention is expected to pile additional pressure on the chancellor to publish a review of the system in the autumn Budget, expected this month.
The MPs said that the property tax – set at 51.2p in the pound, the highest of any European country – disproportionately hit the high streets of economically disadvantaged towns in the North and Midlands that ministers have pledged to level up.
Esther McVey, chair of the Blue Collar Conservatives, and Kevin Hollinrake, chair of the property research group of MPs, said that the amount of rates paid in proportion to overall profit was highest in Tory constituencies won in 2019. These include Bishop Auckland, Great Grimsby and Leigh.
Rishi Sunak has promised that a review of business rates will be released this autumn but the call for a cut from several government loyalists will intensify pressure for reform.
Rachel Reeves, Labour’s shadow chancellor, called this week for business rates to be abolished.
