Andy Burnham's high street plan set to cost £880m as Labour goes after online giants

Andy Burnham's proposal to overhaul business rates to support small high street firms could cost around £880million annually, a bombshell new analysis has revealed.

The former Greater Manchester Mayor, who could become Prime Minister in just a fortnight, intends to fund support by taxing large warehouses used by online giants, including Amazon.

Mr Burnham opened the door to tax rises during an interview with LBC last week, claiming there is "room for movement on tax" within Labour's 2024 manifesto.

The Makerfield MP is pushing for a 50 per cent increase in the threshold for 100 per cent small business rates relief in England.

Global tax firm Ryan forecasts the policy could exempt 140,000 additional small premises from paying business rates altogether.

Alex Probyn, a practice leader for property tax at Ryan, said: “Supporting small businesses is a great policy objective.

“The concern is how that is funded if things have to be revenue neutral.

“Larger commercial properties are already contributing more through the existing business rates surtax to fund lower liabilities for retail, hospitality and leisure.

“The obvious question is whether they are now going to be asked to contribute even more.”

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