Osborne’s financial pain begins as VAT hike hits
Despite the patently dishonest claims by the Tories that the VAT rise is progressive, it will, as the IFS says, hit the poorest hardest – particularly families.
VAT
Economic update – January 2011
Tony Dolphin, of the Institute for Public Policy Research (ippr), looks at the state of the economy as we enter the new year.
Five facts about Osborne’s permanent VAT rise
George Osborne set out yesterday that the VAT rise to 20% would be permanent. Left Foot Forward sets out five facts about the regressive and avoidable tax rise.
Is Simon Hughes Britain’s most confused politician?
Following Evan Harris’s bizarre claim last week that the only way to get rid of fees was to “vote more Liberal Democrats into power”, Simon Hughes yesterday said he “would have liked to have voted against” fees – but didn’t, just as he threatened to vote against the VAT rise in the Budget but failed to do so, and as he threatened to do over the government’s housing benefit cuts.
ippr: Our progressive spending review plan
Our guest writer is Nick Pearce, director of the Institute for Public Policy Research (ippr) How should Labour respond to the spending review this week? The temptation will be to oppose the cuts without offering a clear alternative. But that wouldtest
Osborne’s VAT increase: regressive and avoidable
George Osborne’s decision to raise VAT to 20 per cent from January 2011 has been widely described as regressive, including by the new Head of the Office of Budget Responsibility Robert Chote. Mr Chote has also emphasised the extent to which raising VAT was not unavoidable, and was in fact a choice made by Mr Osborne.
“Vote with your conscience” on VAT, Murphy urges Scots Lib Dems
Labour’s Shadow Scottish Secretary, Jim Murphy has called on Lib Dems across Scotland to oppose what they themselves described as the Tories VAT bombshell before the general election.
Lib Dems set to support regressive Tory VAT increase
A BBC survey of economists reports that they expect value added tax to rise from 17.5 to 20 per cent.
Ken Clarke backtracks on VAT
On Channel 4 News last night, Ken Clarke categorically denied that he had ever called for a VAT cut. In fact, he repeatedly called for a cut in November 2008.
Osborne fails to detail spending plans
George Osborne failed to outline how he would pay for the £13 billion of Tory policy proposals already promised this week during his speech to conference today.