Mike Ashley slams Burnham’s ‘populist’ plans to revive high street
Retail tycoon Mike Ashley has blasted Andy Burnham’s proposals to revive the British high street as “populist” and “too little too late”.
The billionaire Sports Direct and Frasers Group founder has written to the Prime Minister accusing him of failing to tackle the cost of living with “delusional” policies.
The causes of the UK’s rising cost of living “have not been assisted by recent government policies and are not going to be helped by your recent populist proposals,” he said, in a letter seen by Morning Wire.
Ashley accused Burnham of prioritising media attention over practical solutions to help households and business, taking aim at the Prime Minister’s “disastrous” position on business rates.
Burnham has pledged to review how business rates bills for pubs and hotels are calculated, and has previously supported a tax on warehouses to pay for lower taxes for high street shops.
Retailers have previously warned that a warehouse tax could push up prices for shoppers, and Ashley told Burnham that this tax measure would be “delusional”.
“Rather than address the real underlying issues of how the country’s financial affairs are managed, and supporting growth and entrepreneurialism in business, it is easier for you to pick topics which provide good media soundbites and the old salve of yet more regulation – which is not what the country needs to become competitive,” he wrote.
“Shortsighted or populist reactions to underlying business challenges are not the answer. You have the chance to make a difference or get it horribly wrong.”
Burnham resorting to ‘band wagons’
The retail billionaire mocked Burnham’s pledge to deliver “everyday fixes” on the cost of living, which have included a £2 bus fare cap and the removal of VAT on household electricity bills.
“This is a certainly a time for pragmatism and brave solutions but applying that to the underlying issues – not jumping on “everyday fixes” or band wagons that only address part of the problem,” he wrote.
Ashley’s intervention comes amid a growing backlash from business against Burnham’s pledges to tackle cost of living as costs facing businesses continue to rise.
On Monday, a group of influential business veterans including billionaire political donor John Caudwell and retail bigwig Lord Stuart Rose hit out at the “creep of taxes” hitting firms across the country.
In an open letter, the City grandees called on the government to rule out new taxes on founders, including levies on dividends, capital gains and business assets.
On Wednesday, Burnham told the Financial Times that he will tackle the “challenging” cost of business as he attempts to quash fears that October’s Budget will bring another damaging tax raid on British firms.
In the letter to Burnham, Ashley also hit out at the Prime Minister’s pledge to crack down on what he calls “fake” discounts. Aldi boss Giles Hurley has backed this initiative, accusing his supermarket rivals of misleading shoppers with loyalty pricing.
Ashley said: “The driving down of prices through discounting is what helps the consumer by giving them better value and helps with their cost of living. Driving down prices through discounting against an RRP can’t be what you really mean when you talk about “rip off Britain”.”
Before pushing into luxury fashion with Frasers Group’s acquisition of Harvey Nichols and stake-building in Hugo Boss, Ashley made his name by selling cheap sportswear at Sports Direct.