Nick Clegg, leader of the Liberal Democrat party, says that the chancellor should have laid out proposals in his speech to end the 'pointless' cut in VAT rates, which it was announced will be in place until the end of December. The chancellor did not announce what the VAT increase might be. Andrew Jupp, head of tax at Tenon Group, said: 'It was suggested as an April fool but the chancellor actually had the chance to increase the standard rate of VAT to 20% - which would have added an estimated £12.5bn to the government's coffers. Instead, he chose to increase borrowing to £175bn - nearly double that of 1997.'