The Justifications for the 20% VAT rate just will not do.

Conservatives have increased VAT by 12% since
the start of the Thatcher years.

So it’s here, everything will now be charged 2.5% more than we were before; the least justifiable tax of them all. George Osborne expects to raise £13 bn from this; and many Conservatives have been arguing the same old stories that we’re ‘over-spending’ and that we should avoid buying those shoes that we really want and we would avoid the extra cost of the vat rise.

This kind of rhetoric is absolutely unbelievable not only because the lower down the income scale the fewer can afford the shoes in the first place but because it discourages spending! The awful rhetoric doesn’t end there... “Raising vat will stimulate growth and create jobs in the private sector...” said George Osbourne said (having returned from his £10,000 per day holiday over Christmas). Now tell me, how is this meant to occur? Oh I see; the richer classes must be bribed to stay in this country in the hope that they might give some back.

To those who say the VAT rise isn’t much, you have to think of those who have recently become unemployed or have had pay freezes etc. They still have to drive to work, they still have to pay bills, and they still have to buy food. If someone is struggling to get by already then increasing the amount they have to spend (even by a few pence) could be the difference between solvency and being put on the streets.

How is any of this fair? Bailing out the banks effectively cost this country £1 trillion, yet they’re paying back £2 billion... If you’re going to argue that the banks will be sold off again for profit then why are we worrying about the deficit?

Looks like I’m going to have to buy ‘Tesco value’ whiskey from now on...