Birkenhead MP, Frank Field
REBEL Mersey MP Frank Field poured scorn on Gordon Brown’s VAT cut, describing it as “spitting in the face of an economic hurricane”.
But just two fellow Labour MPs joined the Birkenhead MP in an attempt to reverse the temporary reduction in VAT from 17.5% to 15%.
Yesterdays vote came more than two weeks after the December 1 tax cut.
Mr Field told MPs: I believe a cut in VAT is like spitting in the face of an economic hurricane.
I don't believe it will have any effect given that firms are already cutting prices by up to 50% in an attempt to survive.
The Conservatives and Liberal Democrats echoed the criticism, but the attempt to reverse the VAT cut was rejected by 303 votes to 223.
