Britain’s Conservative Party has pledged to abolish business rates for high street shops and pubs if it wins the next general election. The commitment was announced by shadow chancellor Sir Mel Stride at the party conference, who said the burden of Labour’s tax rises had been ‘simply too much to bear’ for many businesses. He told delegates that, subject to public spending being brought under control, a future Conservative government would ‘completely abolish business rates for shops and pubs on our high street’ and added: the policy would be ‘End of. Finished. Gone.’ The plan is expected to cost about £4 billion, with councils to be fully compensated and payments funded by central government.

Alongside the pledge on rates, Stride set out broader savings including a £47 billion programme to cut public spending by restricting welfare, shrinking the Civil Service and reducing aid. He said reforms would prioritise treatment for people with less severe mental health problems rather than benefits, a move he argued would help people move to a better life. He said the policy would apply to those with indefinite leave to remain or limited leave to remain, with the savings calculated to exclude those with EU settled status. In media interviews he indicated that foreign workers no longer eligible for benefits would have to return home or work longer.

Reaction from business groups was mixed. Rain Newton-Smith, chief executive of the CBI, suggested that reducing business rates could help high streets but called for broader reform, including a move from a slab to a slice-based system to simplify the regime and boost investment. She warned that plans to scrap the Climate Change Act would concern firms. Shevaun Haviland, director general of the British Chambers of Commerce, said reforms must go further to be fair and affordable for businesses of all sizes. A Labour spokesperson criticised the funding details, saying the Conservatives had pledged a multibillion-pound saving without explaining how it would be funded.