As the Chancellor weighs up different ways to fill the black hole in the public finances, he should be wary of buying into the view that slapping taxes on online sales will do anything to help the high street, argues IEA Head of Media Emily Carver.

In her bi-weekly column for Conservative Home, Emily argues that in order to revitalise our high streets, ministers should focus their attention on making it easier for retailers to make money, not on punishing those which have excelled.

She adds: “In the same way that Portugal blocked remote lessons at private schools for fear they would gain an unfair advantage over state pupils, the belief that by hammering one sector of the economy you’ll help another is more reminiscent of socialist ideology than that of free market conservatism.”

Read the full column here.