Government plans for the never-never

Last week saw a politically-charged pre-Budget report deliver a spend, spend spend message to help d...

Last week saw a politically-charged pre-Budget report deliver a spend, spend spend message to help draw us out of the financial crisis, despite the argument it was largely reckless overspending and overborrrowing that was at the heart of causing the credit crunch in the first place. The general consensus seems to be that the decision to cut VAT to 15% was a pretty meek attempt to get consumers rushing out to the high street in these few remaining weeks before Christmas, while causing an inordinate amount of administrative head-aches for business owners where VAT is charged. So while man...