VAT is a European construct so post-Brexit any government could have the freedom to reform this hugely complex and irrational VAT rating system, argues David Whiscombe CTA, partner at BKL
There is a reason why political parties stay in power only for one, two or at most three terms. It is not, as is commonly supposed, because they run out of ideas. It’s because the longer they stay in power the harder it is to do so – because it becomes increasingly difficult to blame the other lot for everything that goes wrong. Once a party has been in power for 10 or a dozen years, laying the blame for everything from NHS funding to teenage pregnancy at the door of your predecessor starts to wear a bit thin.
The EU, however, is another matter. For the past 40-odd years it has been an ever-present scapegoat. Want an excuse for taking an unpopular step or failing to take a popular one? Step forward the EU: ‘our hands are tied’.
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