HEADLINE: Chancellor Healey is expected to make Amazon and eBay collect VAT to fund a business rates cut for high-street shops

Thousands of high-street shops, cafes and pubs could be freed from business rates if the threshold rises from £12,000 to £18,000. The online VAT crackdown could raise up to £1billion to fund that cut. Healey will deliver the first Budget of Andy Burnham's Labour Government on Wednesday, October 28. Commentators widely expect him to announce tax rises.

Rising borrowing costs and the US war on Iran leave Healey struggling to balance the books.