How Brown might spin himself as our Value Added Saviour

seb

Two pieces here, plus many on other sites, identify the VAT pruner as Brown. How about a small government saving on Darling's salary? He's obviously unemployed.

As the government is reported to be facing the loss of forty billion in revenue - year on year, some say - from the collapse of the financial sector, how can the state afford to lose a large amount of VAT revenue.

PS - how are the polls looking? I note that there is growing scepticism about the three percent gap. Isn't the true figure what we all had imagined it ought to be - about eleven or so percent in Cameron's favour?

molesworth 1

Currently watching Brown on the Politics Show... he looks like a man who believes he has a 'cunning plan', but all I hear are the usual Brownies:
"it's all America's fault, we're best placed to weather the storm, the re-capitalised banks should start lending again"
No it isn't, no we're not & no they shouldn't.
Like many people, my understanding of finance & economics is limited, but currently expanding exponentially, & even I can see through this one. The one-eyed man was a king only in the kingdom of the blind.

Lance Grundy

“…the problem for Brown is that his VAT cut just won't get noticed (and that the eventual rise in VAT - to 22.5 percent? - will be).”

And an increase in VAT to 22.5 percent is highly symbolic - it is close to a quarter of the retail price of the item. [Close enough in fact to allow the Tories to use the phrase “nearly a quarter.“] That is a terrifyingly high figure and it is a line of attack the Conservatives need to use - and quick.

Brown’s Labour Party are borrowing so much money that in order to pay it back in one or two years time nearly a quarter of the asking price of most goods will be tax. Just think about that. Even if people aren’t good with percentages and economics, this is a message they can easily understand.

Travis Bickle

So how come as , "We are best placed to come out of this recession", is Brown allowed to get away with now changing his tune to "Only drastic action now will save us"?

R Duck

How different it is now Mandelson's pulling the strings. He could make a half-eaten kipper look like a leader.

Can Darling have some credit for these schemes please ? The bits that make sense, perhaps ?

StephenDC

Zero chance, and i mean zero chance, that VAT gets increased beyond 17.5.

Smart money will be on NI increases to make up the tax shortfall to pay for the borrowing. By my rough calculations 0.75% on NI would be enough

TGF UKIP

You're dead right, Peter, as in every recession every business will be discounting like mad to maintain volumes and of course Gordon is going to claim it's all down to him and his VAT "cut".

And because Dave and the rest of his gang are so wet and useless as an opposition, Gordon knows full well there's every chance he'll get away with it.

Lucky, lucky Gordon to have such an opposition.

Jim

Hmmmmm. Over coming months VAT rcpts are going to plummet anyway as people stop buying. This much trumpeted "reduction" by Brown is simply smoke and mirrors to use as an excuse for the fact that he is going to have to increase borrowing to over £100bn just to cover government bills - by dressing the borrowing increase up as being needed to cover vital reductions in tax he hopes to hide the fact that the borrowing increase is being forced on him anyway by his profligacy in the last 11 years...

Breathtaking.

Nicholas

Of course a temporary reduction to 15% is just the means by which he will permanently raise it to 22.5%. Typical Brown.

Forget the 15%, watch for when the 22.5% kicks in.

Why aren't we besieging New Labour's police stations like the Icelanders?

Craig Mac

Nocholas, the reason we're not protesting like the Icelanders is because it hasn't sunk in to most folk yet just how serious the situation really is. Give it till March/April next year and we'll see. I think people will splash out big time on Christmas this year almost in a "for a sheep or a lamb" manner.