Fun In The Sun

I originally saw this article in The Sun, but I can't track it down there, so let's refer to a similar article in The Daily Mail:

Today Treasury ministers said Labour's existing proposal for a reduction in VAT from 20 per cent to 17.5 per cent would cost £12.5 billion this year.

Sajid Javid, Economic Secretary to the Treasury, said: "Labour have let the cat out of the bag – if elected, their plans mean a £500 tax bombshell for every person who works hard and wants to get on in life. Labour isn't learning. They still stand for more borrowing and more debt - and higher taxes."

What a splendid bit of Indian Bicycle Marketing!

The Tories reduced, or plan to reduce, income tax/corporation tax ever so slightly, but got their retaliation in first by hiking the worst taxes of all, VAT and National Insurance, by 2.5% and 2% respectively shortly after taking over (whether Labour would have done the same is a moot point, they probably would, as it happens). The overall effect is a nice tax cut for the usual suspects - banks, bankers and large landowners and a correspondingly larger tax hike on the productive economy (the headline corporation tax cut was largely funded by a further reduction in capital allowances; the overseas earnings exemption primarily benefits banks).

Those two tax hikes amounted to £23 billion or something, which is a "tax bombshell" of £700-plus for each "hard-working taxpayer". Now Labour say they would reverse one of these tax hikes, which in the trade is referred to as a "£12.5 billion cost"* and would, apparently, hike income tax slightly instead, the overall effect of which will be £nil.

As to "more borrowing and more debt - and higher taxes", I think that's a very fair summary of what the Tories have been up to so far, isn't it?

* If the other party calls for a tax cut, it's a "cost" and if they call for a tax hike it's a "bombshell". Those Are The Rules of Indian Bicycle Marketing.