(11-14-2019, 09:33 AM)baggy1 Wrote: Strangely, looking at Wikipedia, it is the Torys that have repeatedly raised VAT and Labour are the ones that have reduced it over the years. Another myth busted.
It may be less the case today, but back in the seventies it was always the 'standard rate of income tax' which grabbed the headlines. Changes to indirect taxation, such as VAT, could be passed off as almost 'optional'; the argument being that there was a choice about where, or whether, consumers spent their money.
Obviously, as the scope of VAT extended to include all manner of routine household and consumer items, that argument didn't really hold water, but our media - even back then - didn't have the attention span (and probably not the will) to scrutinise these sleights of hand in any real depth, so all manner of things were just allowed to slide by.
Addendum: The preoccupation with the income tax rate was mostly due to the fact that it fed into easy soundbites: "We promise to put more money in your pocket", that kind of thing. Neglecting to mention that it wouldn't be staying there for very long - as a consequence of so many routine purchases costing more - could be viewed as simply an error of omission or perpetrating a con-trick, depending on your perspective.
Those of a certain age will remember that the 1979 VAT jump from 8% to 15% had a particularly big impact on car prices in the UK, as the VAT was also added to the Special Car Tax which existed at the time (10% from memory) - in effect a tax on a tax, which some argued was legally questionable.