SCRAP THE VAT
Pressure grows on Tories to act on Mirror call to axe tax on bills
BUSINESS Secretary Kwasi Kwarteng met energy bosses yesterday amid growing calls for an end to VAT on bills.
The talks are thought to have covered many options, with no breakthrough.
It comes less than five weeks before
Ofgem is due to confirm the level of a price cap surge for
15 million households from April.
Experts predict the cap for those on standard tariffs could rocket by more than £700 – from £1,277 to £2,000.
The Mirror is backing Labour’s call to scrap the near 5% VAT on bills in a move that could shave £100 off April’s hike.
PM Boris Johnson has called it a “blunt instrument”, yet he championed the idea when campaigning for Brexit. At Prime Minister’s Questions yesterday Labour’s deputy leader Angela Rayner told him typical families “face a hit of £1,200”. “This is an iceberg right ahead”, she warned. Urging him to slash tax on dual-fuel costs, Ms Rayner added: “Even the Tory backbenchers have finally accepted Labour’s call to cut VAT”. Targeted help for the most vulnerable is also being looked at, including raising the Warm Home Discount, currently a £140 payment. Suppliers have asked ministers for £20billion to spread the impact of wholesale costs. These fell recently but website Energyscanner said it came “far too late to make much difference for consumers”. graham.hiscott @mirror.co.uk