Kemi Badenoch accuses Labour of a ‘shameful assault’ on our high streets | Politics | News

Kemi Badenoch accused Labor of a “disgraceful attack” on our high streets amid warnings of a pandemic-like apocalypse for small businesses. The Conservative leader insisted he could reverse the decline of the country’s urban centers and spark a jobs boom.

And he promised to end the scourge of shop closures, which he blamed on Labour’s punitive JobsTax and sky-high job rates. Ms Badenoch told the Express: “This Government is destroying our high streets.

“I’ve spoken to businesses up and down the country and they all say Labour’s endless tax rises and bureaucracy are making it much harder for them to stay afloat. This is a disgraceful attack on the heart of so many communities and cannot continue.”

His fierce attack comes as a new report reveals rising business rates, wage costs and energy prices are destroying the high street, with 38 shops closing every day.

Small businesses face worse pressures than those experienced during the Covid-19 pandemic, a Business and Trade Committee inquiry has warned.

He said the Government needed to pull its finger out and introduce major reforms, including cutting costs, overhauling business rates and ending late payments, to stop business closures and declines in the high street.

Committee chairman Liam Byrne said a “more coherent and ambitious plan” was needed to support businesses.

Evidence from Sage shows small businesses owe £112bn in unpaid invoices by the end of 2024.

The report stated that 38 stores will close every day on Britain’s high streets in 2024.

It also showed that Labour’s last two budgets have put significant pressures on small businesses.

The Federation of Small Businesses estimates that tax compliance costs SMEs £25 billion each year.

Additionally, the National Hair and Beauty Federation reports that recent tax and policy changes have increased average annual costs in the industry by around £25,000 per business.

The British Retail Consortium estimated that the November Budget added £7bn to the cumulative cost of policies and regulations affecting retail, while UKHospitality said the measures contributed to 69,000 job losses, three times the rate seen across the economy.

Other pressures, skyrocketing electricity prices and a rise in retail crime estimated to cost businesses £4.2bn a year, have made the situation worse.

Mr Byrne told the Express: “The signs of a broken system are staring us in the face on Britain’s high streets: butchers, cafes and family shops are gone. Shutters are down.

“For Sale signs are peeling off the windows. We don’t need spreadsheets to tell them something is terribly wrong. We can see it every Saturday morning.”

“High streets don’t die by accident. They are allowed to fail. And unless the government changes course, the shutters will continue to come down – one shop, one street, one town at a time.”

“Only the Conservatives have a clear plan to save the high street. From cutting energy bills to slashing business rates for thousands of retail, hospitality and leisure businesses, we will get Britain working again.”

Abolishing business rates for 250,000 traders is at the heart of Ms Badenoch’s bold plan to revitalize the high street.

This also includes reducing energy costs, cutting red tape and increasing police numbers to help stores thrive.

He insists the four-pronged plan, which will be introduced if the Conservative Party wins the next election, will help revive city centres, which have been hit in recent years as shoppers turn to online retailers.

“Only the Conservatives have a clear plan to save the high street,” Ms Badenoch added. “From cutting energy bills to slashing business rates for thousands of retail, hospitality and leisure businesses, we will get Britain working again.”

The report comes just weeks after Labor was forced to make another humiliating U-turn with a drop in tax rises on pubs.

Changes to the business rates regime have left thousands of pubs, hotels and restaurants facing staggering cost increases.

Chancellor Ms Reeves announced £4.3 billion of ‘temporary aid’ in the Budget, leading many bosses to believe they had been given a good deal.

But the fine print reveals the average pub faces a 15% increase in business rates in April, a 48% increase next year and a 76% increase in 2028.

The size of the increases triggered a backlash; More than 1,500 landlords have reportedly banned Labor MPs.

Many once-thriving retail brands have fallen into administration in 2025, including well-known names such as Claire’s, Bodycare and Poundland; Hundreds of stores and jobs were at risk.

More than 13,000 high street units will be permanently closed by 2024, according to analysis by the Center for Retail Research, and it is feared that the number of stores locking their doors for the last time in 2025 will be even higher.

More shops are expected to close this year as retailers take a hit as Labor raises the minimum wage and employers increase national insurance contributions.

The government insists this is to “restore stability, protect pubs and small businesses and reform business rates to ensure high street shops are supported rather than penalised”.