Video: BBC Politics London, 4 October 2026
Kemi Badenoch wants to restore VAT-free shopping for international visitors, and Westminster's Conservatives say it would help the West End.
Kemi Badenoch has pledged that a Conservative government would bring back tax-free shopping for international tourists, scrapped in 2021 after Brexit.
Speaking to BBC London, she said Britain had sent its business to Paris and Milan instead. "We need to bring it back, and that's why I want to see VAT-free shopping," she said. "It's going to be good for London's high streets, and a lot of the retailers have come out to support us."
Fortnum & Mason, Paul Smith and the Burlington Arcade were among the businesses that backed the plan when it was announced on 21 September. The party says it would be partly paid for by a crackdown on health tourism, and in place by the end of the next Parliament.
Cllr Festus Akinbusoye, councillor for Abbey Road ward, backed the plan on BBC Politics London. He said Westminster contributes "a phenomenal amount of money to the tourist industry in the UK", so "it is a good idea" to let more visitors shop tax-free.
Oxford Street, Regent Street and Bond Street all sit in Westminster. Bringing back tax-free shopping would help their shops, and the jobs that depend on them, win back visitors from Paris and Milan.
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