Billionaire Sports Direct founder Mike Ashley has launched a direct attack on Prime Minister Andy Burnham’s retail and cost-of-living policies, branding them "populist reactions".

In a letter seen by the BBC and first reported by the Financial Times, the retail tycoon hit out at measures introduced since Burnham succeeded Sir Keir Starmer as prime minister. Ashley took particular aim at Burnham's previous proposal to fund business rate cuts for pubs and clubs by increasing levies on large warehouses, describing the approach as "delusional".

"If your answer is to tax larger retailers even more, through hiking business rates on retailer owned or third-party warehouses whilst reducing rates for pubs and clubs, then that is simply delusional," Ashley wrote in the letter. He added that "shortsighted or populist reactions to underlying business challenges are not the answer."

Before entering Downing Street, Burnham suggested that business rate cuts for pubs, social clubs, and music venues could be financed by higher taxes on warehouses run by online firms such as Amazon, as well as targeting landlords leaving high street units empty.

A Downing Street spokesperson defended the government's direction, saying Burnham is working to "build a new economy that backs British business, delivers growth in every postcode and ensures the essentials in life - like energy, water and housing - are affordable again." The spokesperson added that earlier pledges, including cutting VAT from household electricity bills and lowering business rates for certain firms, were "just the start."

Under current government plans, pubs, social clubs, and live music venues are scheduled to receive a 20% business rates reduction starting in April, alongside a wider review into how the property tax is calculated. Earlier this month, Burnham also pledged to revive "hollowed out" high streets by letting councils block new betting and vape shops, ending subscription traps, and banning misleading recommended retail prices.

Ashley dismissed the focus on recommended retail prices, arguing that ministers should instead tackle "price fixing in sporting goods and other markets", pointing to the increasing price of official football merchandise as an example.

The businessman, who founded Frasers Group from a Maidenhead shop in 1982 and built it into an empire employing 30,000 staff, insisted that "the disastrous business rates position" and "the dramatically increasing cost of employing people" are the real issues dragging businesses down.

Ashley's business empire, now run by his son-in-law Michael Murray, recently bought luxury department store Harvey Nichols and announced a "significant restructuring". In his letter, Ashley asked Burnham how the government intends to help revive the struggling department store chain.

Ashley has faced his own scrutiny over working conditions in the past. In 2016, he admitted to MPs that staff at his Derbyshire warehouse had been paid below the minimum wage and acknowledged that a company policy of fining workers for arriving late was unacceptable.

What remains to be seen is whether Downing Street will alter its retail strategy before the Chancellor delivers the government's first Budget on 27 October, where Ashley has urged ministers to lower employer costs and reshape the business rates system.

I'll be following this one closely as we head towards the Budget — check back for updates.