Its going to get MUCH better under the tories.

[cojak]

I'm getting confused, whose turn is it to use the 'Tax Bombshell' billboard posters?

The Lib Dems.

Oh no, wait a minute...

[TimberWolf]

Why don't Labour enter into coalition with the Conservatives and Liberals?

[Freamon]

No spending cuts, no tax increases. Vote for me.

Ed Milliband

No spending cuts, no tax increases, just a gilt strike.

[Platypus]

Erm perhaps not. 20% VAT rate is here to stay. Apparently.

A result of labour wrecking the economy. Thank Gordo for this one, Bolshie.

Please re-title all your anti Tory posts as "Another inevitable consequence of Labour's last **** up"

[gingerjedi]

A result of labour wrecking the economy. Thank Gordo for this one, Bolshie.

Please re-title all your anti Tory posts as "Another inevitable consequence of Labour's last **** up"

That's partly true but there's no getting away from the fact it was Labour that lowered VAT and the Tories who put it up.

[suityou01]

That's partly true but there's no getting away from the fact it was Labour that lowered VAT and the Tories who put it up.

Labour that cut VAT to get votes

HTH

[DodgyAgent]

That's partly true but there's no getting away from the fact it was Labour that lowered VAT and the Tories who put it up.

There is also no getting away from the fact that the last two times labour have been in power they have bankrupted the country

[suityou01]

There is also no getting away from the fact that the last two times labour have been in power they have bankrupted the country

WDAS

[Peoplesoft bloke]

Yeah right "Labour wrecked the economy" - and they also wrecked the US, Iceland, Ireland, Spain, Portugal, France, Germany and Greece's economies.

We are so tighly wedded to the Septics that when they tank, so do we. It's true that Labour wrecked the Economy, but the only way not to have done so would have been a radical move away from the basically Thatcherite consensus of leaving things to the bankers. Unlikely to happen. Anything else is just tinkering. Most of the stuff that Labour did would have been done by the Tories. Don't forget the last time VAT went up it was because John Major had wrecked the economy. The idea that one party ruins an economy and another can mend it is old fashioned, dogmatic and frankly thick. All/any party pretends they can fix things but they don't.

[Platypus]

That's partly true but there's no getting away from the fact it was Labour that lowered VAT and the Tories who put it up.

Yes, Labour lower VAT, ostensibly to stimulate the flagging economy. Then they LABOUR put it back up to 17.5%.
Remember that business had to bear the cost of this government stunt, i.e. repricing every product in every store across the land. If you speak to people in business, which I do, their view is that the costs they incurred in managing this repricing exercise, only to reverse it again a year later, offset any benefits.

It's interesting to look back,
BBC NEWS | Business | Lower VAT rate comes into force

It is estimated the change will cost the Treasury around £12.5bn and save the average earner around £170 a year.

But retailers say it will cost £300m during the next two years to cover the expense of implementing the change.

...

Our correspondent said: "But with the budget deficits set to reach £118bn next year, these VAT cuts might prove to be a very expensive gamble."