Local MP Jon Trickett fights against VAT rise in House of Commons and calls on Liberal Democrats to vote against Bill
Hemsworth MP Jon Trickett made a move last night in the House of Commons to block the Coalition Government’s plans to raise VAT to 20%.
Alongside other Labour MPs, Jon Trickett tabled an amendment to the Finance Bill, which would force the Government to conduct an equality impact assessment of the impact before they would be allowed to raise VAT. As Mr Trickett pointed out, VAT is a wholly regressive tax, hitting the poorest the hardest.
Jon Trickett called on Liberal Democrat MPs to vote against the rise as their own policy opposed it. He quoted the Deputy Prime Minister, the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills and the Liberal Democrat’s Deputy Leader who had all spoken against a VAT rise, some as recently as the previous month.
Mr Trickett finished his speech in the House of Commons with a warning that the tax increase would not reduce the deficit as the Government claims it will but that instead it will simply shift money from the poorest to the richest in society:
Finally, this VAT rise is wholly unnecessary. It does not contribute in any way to the reduction of the deficit. . . If the measure was being used to take money out of the economy to help the deficit, one could understand it, but the same Budget hands out money in tax. . . give-aways (which) add up to £12.37 billion-almost the same amount as will be raised through the VAT rise.
The truth is that the measure is not in any way about reducing the deficit; it is about tax give-aways to the Tories' friends-the richer people in our society. The VAT rise is exposed for what it is: a regressive tax, taking money from the whole economy to bolster the Tories' friends in business and the 22 millionaires who sit around the Cabinet table. No doubt many people on the wealthier side of the divide in this country are rubbing their hands in glee.
Notes to Editors
The full text of the speech can be found at: