Balls calls for VAT cut

Shadow chancellor Ed Balls MP is echoing the construction industry’s call for the Government to reduce VAT on home improvement and building repair work to 5%.

The call is part of Ball’s five-point plan to kick-start the economy, which also includes a 12-month national insurance break for small businesses taking on new workers.

His “plan for growth” came in a speech to the Labour Party Conference in Liverpool yesterday (September 26) in which he vowed a Labour administration would have an “iron discipline” on spending.

Balls rejected Tory claims that the financial crisis was caused by Labour’s “excessive spending” on public services.

“The Government must adopt a steadier, more balanced plan to get our deficit down and take immediate action now to support the economy and create jobs here in Britain,” Balls said.

His five-point plan included a boost for growth by cutting VAT to 5% on home improvements, repairs and maintenance to help householders and businesses whose income has been hit by the stagnant housing market, a one-year national insurance break for every small firm which takes on extra workers and a repeat of Alistair Darling’s tax on bank bonuses to pay for home-building and jobs for young people.

“Call it Plan A-plus. Call it Plan B. Call it Plan C. I don’t care want they call it – Britain just needs a plan that works.”