‘Lift tax in North but not South’ London

LONDON businesses today blasted a minister for suggesting that a property tax should be abolished in the North but was "appropriate" for the capital.

Chief whip Nick Brown told his local newspaper, The Northern Echo, that the £1.3 billion business rates levied on empty commercial properties were "destructive" for old industrial areas such as the North-East.

Steve Owen, deputy chief executive of industrial developer Brixton, said: "It's extremely unfair to apply it to only one part. The tax affects the whole of business, across the country."