Andy Burnham is understood to be preparing a 20 per cent reduction in business rates for the hospitality industry within days.
Reports suggest the new Prime Minister is preparing the tax raid as part of rapid succession of policy announcements in his opening stretch at Number 10.
The new Labour leader has already confirmed that VAT will be stripped from household electricity bills as part of efforts to ease cost-of-living pressures on families.
A £2 cap on bus fares could also be revealed as early as tomorrow, adding to what amounts to a significant early flurry of activity from the Burnham Government.
The business rates pledge was first made during last month’s Makerfield by-election campaign, when Burnham committed to cutting the charge for pubs, clubs and music venues.
He also promised to lift the payment threshold for independent hospitality, leisure and retail businesses.
The plan to fund these cuts centres on hiking rates for large out-of-town warehouses operated by companies such as Amazon, shifting the burden towards online retail giants.
Mr Burnham said: “Our high streets matter to me because they matter to the people who live here.
“I want to make sure that these family-owned businesses, as the heart and soul of this country, are protected and given the chance to thrive.”
Speaking to the Huff Post, a source in the PM’s circle declined to elaborate further, saying they would not “get ahead of the announcement”.
Ros Morgan, the chair of the Real Rates Reform Alliance welcomed the PM’s acknowledgement that business rates are broken and his desire to create fairer conditions between online and bricks-and-mortar firms. However, she warned that a patchwork approach would be an error.
Ms Morgan shared: “We’ve seen this approach before and it doesn’t address the fact that the entire system isn’t fit for purpose.”
The alliance is instead pushing for a hybrid model that would impose a modest 2% levy on online sales, using the revenue to deliver a cut of more than a third for all physical businesses.
She described such a reform as “a real game changer for all high streets and communities”.
“Westminster has not been working for people for too long, with families struggling with the cost of living,” the PM said on Tuesday morning.
Darren Jones, whom Mr Burnham dismissed from the cabinet on Monday, countered that the digital ID programme was itself “unfunded”.
