Former Sainsbury's boss wades into tax row to criticise 'unfair' rates bills

Justin King said traditional retailers paid huge bills for services, while online rivals paid little but received same benefits

The former boss of Sainsbury's has waded into the row over the tax paid by multinationals such as Amazon and eBay, saying it was unfair that that traditional retailers must pay huge rates bills for services such as roads and waste collection, while their online rivals paid little but received the same benefits.

Business rates, said Justin King, are a bigger problem for British retailers than the corporation tax scandal.