Mike Ashley launches scathing attack on Burnham's 'delusional' plans to revive the high street

See more This is Money on Google - save us as a Preferred Source Updated: 14:04 EDT, 27 August 2026 Sports Direct tycoon Mike Ashley has launched a scathing attack on Andy Burnham's 'delusional' plans to revive the high street and has warned retailers will be 'further devastated' unless taxes are cut.In a letter to the Prime Minister, the billionaire owner of Frasers Group and former owner of Newcastle United football club, Ashley hit out at what he called 'recent populist proposals.'Burnham this week insisted he would 'take pressure off' businesses, which have complained about consumers having less cash to spend while their own operating costs have soared in recent years.His plans include funding business rates discounts for pubs and clubs by increasing business rates on online retail warehouses as well as tougher rules for unseemly vape and betting shops.But Ashley - whose stable of retailers encompasses House of Fraser, Flannels, Sofa.com, Jack Wills and Evans Cycles - said that it would be 'simply delusional' to tax larger retailers more through raising rates further.Ashley said there were 'real' challenges facing the country's economy that needed to be tackled, rather than 'topics which provide good media soundbites.' Letter to the Prime Minister: Mike Ashley has urged Andy Burnham to not just focus on 'topics which provide good media soundbites'He lambasted a 'disastrous' approach to business rates and 'the dramatically increasing cost of employing people' as the biggest obstacles for businesses.These factors - including Keir Starmer's government's increases to minimum wages and employer National Insurance contributions - have backfired and led to retailers cutting jobs, he said.In a plea ahead of the Budget on 28 October, Ashley said: 'These aspects of the hostile business climate can't be allowed to continue or the high streets will be further devastated.'Ashley mentioned his £40million rescue of troubled department store chain Harvey Nichols earlier this month. He asked Burnham: 'My challenge to you is - how are you going to help with turning Harvey Nichols around?'What's more, he said a shop-lifting epidemic was 'getting much worse' in Britain and called for measures to help protect shops from theft. Frasers loses around £40m per year from theft, he said, while incidents of theft also sometimes put staff at risk.Ashley also took a swipe at Burnham's remarks around retailers offering misleading Recommended Retail Prices (RRPs) and phoney discounts.He said that his Sports Direct brand often uses big discounts while it advertises 'up to 90 per cent off the RRP' to online shoppers. 'The driving down of prices through discounting is what helps the consumer by giving them better value and helps with their cost of living,' he said.He said there was no inherent problem with RRPs, which are set by reputable companies, such as Nike, Adidas and Puma.But he urged scrutiny of 'price fixing' in the sportswear market, 'where consumers will actually be paying too much because retailers can't discount as they want.' He said that prices for official England shirts were 'uncannily uniform at £134.99 across the board' during this summer's World Cup.This price had been achieved by tactics that make the market 'less competitive,' he added.Ashley said the competition watchdog handed out fines which 'have been disproportionately low and toothless and so the behaviours don't stop.'He concluded: 'This is just one example of many - and this should be the focus of government in relation to the protection of consumers - looking at legal changes to prevent brands limiting distribution in order to support price fixing.'DIY INVESTING PLATFORMSAJ BellAJ BellEasy investing and ready-made portfoliosHargreaves LansdownHargreaves LansdownFree fund dealing and investment ideasinteractive investorinteractive investorFlat-fee investing from £4.99 per monthFreetradeFreetradeInvesting Isa now free on basic planTrading 212Trading 212Free share dealing and no account feeAffiliate links: If you take out a product This is Money may earn a commission. These deals are chosen by our editorial team, as we think they are worth highlighting. This does not affect our editorial independence.Compare the best investing account for you