Prime Minister's question asked in the House of Commons, by Lord Cameron of Chipping Norton (Conservative). It was answered on Wednesday, 26 November 2008 on behalf of the Prime Minister.

Engagements

Question: The Prime Minister cannot claim that this is some madcap idea that he immediately rejected. I have got the document right here. It is called the Value Added Tax— ““Give it back!”” the hon. Gentleman says—he can get the document on the internet. [Laughter.] There go the dinosaurs. It is called the Value Added Tax (Change of Rate) Order 2008 and it says this:"““Ministerial Sign-off…I have read the Impact Assessment and I am satisfied that…it represents a fair and reasonable view of the expected costs, benefits and impact of the policy…Signed by the responsible Minister: Stephen Timms…24 November””." It is absolutely clear that the Government are planning a VAT bombshell to hit every family in the country. Let me ask the Prime Minister this—he should answer carefully; we may carry out some freedom of information requests. Was there a plan to raise VAT even further than 18.5 per cent.?

Answer: I have said that we had considered all options, but we rejected them. I shall tell the House why we rejected those options. We rejected them because, as the Chancellor said on Monday, we chose the options that were fairest to ordinary, hard-working families. The question is: do the Conservatives now support cutting VAT from 17.5 per cent., or are they simply the do nothing party that would not help people in times of real need?

Secondary information