In a preliminary reaction to the unveiling of Scottish Labour’s 2026 manifesto the Director of the Scottish Retail Consortium, David Lonsdale, said:
“Labour’s manifesto contains a number of encouraging proposals that retailers can get behind and support. These include the focus on economic growth, the ruling out of increases in Scottish income tax, and bearing down on thefts from shops by expanding the work of the Retail Crime Taskforce and the courts.
“We’re open to the proposed scrapping of business rates but would have liked to have seen more detail on the mooted replacement. In the interim we need to see a promise to match the more competitive business rates regime for retailers that is now in place in England.
“Plans for new Scotland-only taxes on retailers of alcohol and retailers with an online offering are however alarming. Scottish retailers are already paying a higher business rate than their counterparts down south, with medium sized and larger retailers forking out £54 million more a year than English counterparts according to Scottish Government figures. Retailers are striving to keep down prices whilst facing increased statutory burdens and rising supply chain and commodity costs due to the situation in the Middle East. The cost of operating a retail business is ultimately borne by customers and the reality is extra taxes would inevitably be passed on to Scottish consumers, which is what happened following last year’s hike to employers’ national insurance contributions. The focus ought to be on helping rather than hindering retailers’ ability to keep down prices and supporting economic recovery.”
