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There is a growing view among organisations that business rates as they stand aren’t fit for purpose. But the last big reform of local government tax ended in riots. Can it be done? When the UK government announced its fundamental review of business rates, there was hope among organisations that we would finally see reform to the tax. The rates system can be traced back to its origins in the Poor Laws of 1572 and 1601. Business rates as we know them can be traced to the Local Government Finance Act 1988 but in some respects, it reflects law stretching back to 1601.

The UK high street has been hit hard by coronavirus (Getty Images) The pandemic is in many ways not a break from the past but a rapid accelerator, and nowhere has the world sped up as much as in our shopping habits.  In the last year, more retail sales shifted onto the internet than had done so in the previous decade. UK consumers spent £24 in every £25 offline as recently as 2008. We now spend £1 in every £3 over the internet. With high streets restricted for most of the last year, it is no exaggeration to say that online businesses have kept our families fed, our children entertained,...

How our generosity for charities exposes the failure of state Updated / Tuesday, 15 Dec 2020 12:38 "Rather than being something good, charity might more accurately be said to be a necessary evil or at least something that allows an evil to persist" Opinion: is it not an indictment of Ireland in 2020 that we still need to raise money to help out good causes and charities? Charity is a common practice in Ireland. The roots of charity, the act of giving to the benefit of those less fortunate or less well-off, are deep here, having a strong basis in religion and in Christian values in particul...