U.K. Labour to Force Vote Seeking Sales Tax Cut for Energy Bills
U.K. Labour to Force Vote Seeking Sales Tax Cut for Energy Bills
(Bloomberg) -- The U.K. Labour Party plans to force a vote in Parliament on Tuesday on a proposal to cut sales tax on domestic energy bills, as the main opposition seeks to ratchet up the pressure on Prime Minister Boris Johnson to ease the burden of rising prices on consumers.
If approved, the binding motion would guarantee Parliamentary time on Feb. 1 to debate legislation to cut value added tax on fuel bills, Labour said late Monday in a statement.
While Johnson’s majority of about 80 means he’s unlikely to be defeated, the Labour motion is designed to put pressure on rank-and-file members of the ruling Conservative Party who themselves have called for action. Some 20 Tory Members of Parliament put their name to a letter in the Telegraph earlier this month urging Johnson and Chancellor of the Exchequer Rishi Sunak to scrap VAT and environmental levies on energy bills.
“The government -- and all the Tory MPs who have previously backed a VAT cut on home energy bills -- should follow through with their promises,” Labour’s climate change spokesman, Ed Miliband, said. He urged Tories to “vote with Labour today to scrap the tax for a year, as hard working people face a growing cost of living crisis.”
Labour is seeking to capitalize on rising worries over consumer price increases across the U.K., with inflation surging over 5% and energy bills and taxes set to rise in April. Johnson himself advocated cutting VAT from fuel bills when he was campaigning for Brexit, but last week, he called the measure a “blunt instrument” that would mean “also cutting fuel bills for a lot of people who perhaps don’t need the support.”
On Monday, Johnson told broadcasters that he understood how difficult the price crunch is for ordinary Britons and that ministers are “looking at what we can do.”
“We’ve got to help people, particularly people on low incomes, with the cost of their fuel and that’s what we want to do,” Johnson said.
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