There were several empty seats at the Conservative Party’s conference on Monday, 6 October, as Sir Mel Stride laid out the opposition’s economic plans if they win the next election.
The shadow chancellor pledged that the Tories will abolish business rates for high street shops and pubs.
Vowing to “get business rates down”, Sir Mel said: “I can announce that as a direct result of getting public spending under control, a future Conservative government will completely abolish business rates for shops and pubs on our high street.”