News from Labour Matters

Revealed: Conservatives’ plans to increase VAT to 20% if they win power

The Telegraph claims that Cameron’s Conservatives are looking at increasing VAT to 20% if they win the next election:

A shadow ministerial source said: “Tax rises will have to be part of the equation. It will be time for some strong medicine.”

By moving quickly to increase VAT after the election, senior Conservatives believe they will be able to pin the blame for the state of the public finances on Gordon Brown and his outgoing Labour government.

They would be following in the footsteps of Margaret Thatcher, who increased VAT to 15 per cent in the 1981 Budget, also at a time when Britain was struggling to emerge from a recession.

Read the full article.

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