This is the way to save Britain’s high streets - and Burnham should listen

Voters don’t usually take kindly to being told what to do, especially when the government fails to offer any enticing alternatives to their existing behaviour. You could waste your breath trying to explain to people that they cannot both mourn the heyday of the high street yet continue to do most of their shopping online. Doing so would probably fail to shift the dial even a bit.

Buying things on, say, Amazon or Asos may have a number of ethical downsides, but it’s easy and convenient and often cheaper than having to leave the house, browse, and buy those things from local businesses instead. No amount of guilt-tripping will meaningfully change this, at least in the short term. Still, it ought to be possible to tweak the rules in order to bring about this new, old world which the public says it misses, even if it isn’t quite ready to play its part in saving.

This is where a new idea from the Institute for Public Policy Research (IPPR) comes in. Earlier this week, the centre-left think tank called on the chancellor to add a 2% sales tax to all online purchases, and a 1% tax on click-and-collect ones. The move would give the Treasury an estimated £1.5 billion a year which, crucially, could be spent on trying to level up the playing field for high street shops.

By using the money on a package of tax cuts for retail, hospitality and leisure businesses in England, the government could give local businesses a boost, without leaving shoppers feeling like they’re being fleeced. As a result, smaller businesses would save around £1,400 a year, and larger ones up to £2,500. It wouldn’t fix everything, but would be a step in the right direction.

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As IPPR economist Aditi Sriram explained, “Britain’s tax system was built for an era when the location where you did business was closely linked to how much business you did. That is no longer the case. As people have moved their shopping online, high street shops and restaurants continue to face large, fixed tax bills simply because they need physical premises.

“The government should shift some of the tax burden from bricks to clicks and use the money to cut bills for the businesses that bring people onto our high streets. Online shopping is here to stay. The question is whether the tax system catches up with the economy we now have.”

It is a good point, and one Andy Burnham will hopefully be receptive to. Last month, the prime minister announced a £210m package aimed at regenerating England’s high streets, and turning empty buildings into “community hubs, health centres, shared workspaces, cafés and the local services that people actually want to see”.

The move was welcome, though there is a risk that the money will only be a drop in the ocean, and much more will have to be done to breathe some life back into neighbourhoods which have long been deserted.

Though the IPPR was right in stating that what has been done cannot be undone, it only seems fair that online giants should be made to pay their fair share of taxes compared to their physical counterparts. They may have armies of lobbyists swarming Westminster, but their whining should be ignored.

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Instead, what No 10 may want to notice is that people are increasingly turning against the current reality of their cities and towns’ centres. Over in Southend-on-Sea, the council may ban further vape, barber and mobile phone shops from opening, as the businesses are simply too unpopular with the local population. Similar debates are happening elsewhere too.

Of course, it is frustrating that many of the people objecting to these new businesses probably didn’t patronise whatever shops had previously been in their place, but that doesn’t mean the wind can’t change again. As the saying doesn’t quite go; you can only miss something when it’s gone.

Much has been made of the need to rewild Britain’s countryside, but another next step would be to try and revive its high streets too. They may not create communities in the way they once did, but recreating physical habits and loose social connections, as well as encouraging people to leave the house more often, can only ever be a good thing.

Burnham has, it seems, played a blinder by successfully announcing that he would revolutionise social care by implementing pension reform at Labour’s conference last month. Maybe this could be another one of his miracles.