Bira welcomes Labour's election pledge on biz rates

The British Independent Retailers Association (Bira) has welcomed the election pledge of the Labour Party to scrap business rates.

At the Labour Party Conference, Shadow Chancellor Rachel Reeves claimed that a Labour government would immediately cut the business tax, before eventually phasing it out completely.

The reform would look to shift the burden from the high street to online giants, and end the tax relief afforded to private schools due to their charitable status.

Bira has long campaigned for fairer taxation with a bigger proportion paid by the online giants.

Bira 's CEO Andrew Goodacre said: "Bira welcomes Labour 's announcement to scrap business rates.

"It is obvious that the rates burden must be reduced to aid the recovery and protect the high street.

“Well done to Labour and I hope that the Chancellor makes a similar pledge in his autumn statement at the end of October.