Shopkeepers are essentially correct: business rates are pre-internet and have become archaic

No retailer has a right to survive and some of the headline-grabbing retreats owe much to outdated formats, lack of investment or bad management. Yet talk of a “crisis” on our high streets is legitimate. At least 35,000 retail jobs have been lost or put at risk of redundancy this year, which represents a brutal readjustment even at a time of high rates of general employment.

Related: UK high street sales fall for fifth month running

Related: ‘It’s like the death of a loved one’: as stores close, retail workers lose out to big tech

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