Scrap tourist tax, university foreign student levy and cut stamp duty on shares to boost London, Reeves urged

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Rachel Reeves is being urged by London business chiefs to scrap the “tourist tax” to boost London as she champions economic growth as her number one priority.

The failure to reinstate VAT-free shopping for foreign visitors, axed by then Chancellor Rishi Sunak in 2021, is said to be costing the West End hundreds of millions of pounds a year as tourists head to Paris, Milan and other cities which offer this tax break, rather than to London.

Shoppers on Oxford Street In Pictures via Getty Images

Universities in the capital are also facing hefty blows from a proposed six p