Sajid’s back... and he claims fury is based on ‘myths’

SAJID Javid risked enraging small firms last night after he wrote an extraordinary letter insisting the row over business rates was based on myths.

In a five-page missive to MPs, the Communities Secretary said anger over the shake-up was unfounded and that firms had ‘nothing to worry about’.

Fearing a revolt from Tory backbenchers and peers over the controversial revaluation, he told them the row had been the result of campaigners spreading ‘half-truths’.

In sending the letter, the minister will face accusations that the Government is in the grip of panic.

Mr Javid has already been under fire for staying away on holiday in the week that the row exploded.

Critics believe he is unlikely to convince the 500,000 businesses who face higher bills of up to 300 per cent over the next five years.

The minister was also adamant that his reform of the appeals system for business rates was fair.

This is despite the fact that business groups have complained it gives the Government power to block appeals if it falls within a margin of error.

It came as it emerged that Chancellor Philip Hammond is considering ways to soften the revaluation to head off a potential Tory rebellion.

Grant Shapps, the former local government minister, said at the weekend that ministers should ‘quietly drop’ the revaluation, and said he was concerned that the changes ‘may undo progress’ on reviving high streets.

The controversial letter was written jointly by Mr Javid and David Gauke, the Chief Secretary to the Treasury.

They told MPs it was time to ‘set the record straight’ and laud the ‘biggest ever cut’ to the rates.

Mr Javid wrote: ‘Unfortunately, this year’s revaluation has been preceded by a series of reports claiming that rates are going to soar, that appeals are being banned and that hundreds of thousands of businesses will be forced to close. Such claims are simply untrue.’

He said the first ‘myth’ was that the Government was ‘imposing acrossthe-board rate rises’.

This is despite the fact that campaigners have pointed out that 500,000 firms – not all – have faced increases.

The letter added: ‘The revaluation is fiscally neutral. It is emphatically not being used to hide a stealth rise in taxes.’ Mr Javid said the ‘second myth’ was that firms would be ‘ illegally blocked’ from appealing against the revaluation. He went on: ‘This has no basis in fact.’

The ministers blame delays in the appeals system on ‘the business rate equivalent ambulance chasing lawyers’ clogging up the system.

The letter added: ‘We would never do anything to jeopardise the future of businesses ... The forthcoming changes are not something to be afraid of. Most businesses will benefit, and it will make the system fairer.’

The Treasury and No10 insist there will be no U-turn on the revaluation, which they say is generally fair.

It is understood, however, that the Chancellor is considering reforms. One option is that, rather than properties being revalued every few years, changes could be implemented more smoothly, perhaps annually.

Mr Javid is thought to have flown back from holiday on Saturday. A close source said it was the Commons recess and he was ‘still working’. But he faced criticism for having disappeared ‘Where’s Wally’ style, leaving it up to others to explain the policy.

‘This has no basis in fact’

ANOTHER day, another grotesque injustice over business rates, as it emerges that out-of-town hypermarkets are in line for a £200million tax cut, while small firms face crippling increases that could drive many to the wall.

Indeed, with online retail giants also set to benefit from April’s revaluation, this ancient property tax – which takes no account of ability to pay – seems almost calculated to destroy the High Street by favouring its mightiest competitors.

Further illustrating the madness of the system, fluctuations in property values mean the biggest supermarkets would have had to pay £1.3billion extra if the revaluation had been carried out two years ago, when it was due.

How can any tax so arbitrary be deemed fair or fit for the 21st Century?

To his credit, Chancellor Philip Hammond is looking urgently at ways to soften the blow for the worst affected enterprises. Yet isn’t the only truly effective answer to freeze business rates until a fairer system can be devised?

Instead of defending the indefensible, this is what Local Government Secretary Sajid Javid should be urging.

IT’S great news for British competitors in the space race that the Government will allow satellites to be launched from the UK, with the first commercial flight clear for lift-off within three years. But with rail unions planning more strikes – and British roads today labelled among the most gridlocked in the world – the Mail has a plea on behalf of earthbound travellers. Will ministers turn their attention to getting trains and cars moving again, when they’re not too busy gazing at the stars?