Hammond ‘betraying retailers’ as he ignores call for urgent reforms

PHILIP Hammond was accused of betraying struggling high street retailers yesterday after he refused to launch an urgent overhaul of business rates.

The Chancellor insisted there will be no imminent change despite warnings that the tax is killing off firms.

In a letter to MPs, he said he would not examine the issue until he has considered reforming other corporate taxes.

Around 50,000 retail jobs have already been lost since the start of the year, and about 61,000 stores have closed in the past five years.

Stores complain they are penalised for having town centre properties, while online retailers that make millions more in sales are charged a fraction of the amount because they can rely on vast out-of-town warehouses. Former Tory minister Nicky Morgan, chairman of the Commons Treasury select committee, wrote to the Chancellor last month urging a review of business rates.

In a letter in response, published yesterday, Mr Hammond said a 2016 review had concluded that rates should not be axed.

He also said another inquiry into how to tax digital firms was under way.

But former Wickes and Iceland boss Bill Grimsey, who called for an end to business rates in a report published this week, said: ‘This is totally dispiriting for independent high street retailers, and it shows a total lack of understanding of the economic challenges entrepreneurs face.

‘It’s completely divorced from reality, it’s just ignorance, and sounds like someone speaking from behind the comfort of a desk.’