Why vote DUP? To back stupid Labour VAT cuts.

Last week the German Finance Minister poured scorn upon Alistair Darling’s 2.5% VAT cut, noting that it was an expensive and ineffective expedient, unlikely to get people spending. Nick Clegg believes the £12.5 billion which it costs would be better spent on direct employment through financing infrastructure. Conservatives argue that targeting National Insurance offers a more effective means to benefit business and get money into people’s pockets. Just about every expert on consumer trends in the UK has cast doubt on the likely efficacy of the government’s scheme.

So what does Nigel Dodds assess as a great benefit of DUP representation at Westminster? His party’s ability to wade in behind government in order to defend an expensive, ineffective, temporary sales tax cut, which will have to be paid back with interest, some time in the not so distant future. Perhaps the pressure of all those jobs Nigel is doing has effected his judgment. Maybe the prospect of adding European duties to his already bulging portfolio is starting to get to him.

The DUP’s independence might permit it to exercise questionable judgment to little effect, but Ulster Unionists intend to participate in the party of government. That will offer opportunities to make a genuine contribution and to shape policy, both for the benefit of Northern Ireland and the entire United Kingdom. (H/T Jeffrey Peel)

Comments

Anonymous said…
In fairness, whatever about the rest of the UK, surely the VAT cut has been a fairly significant boon to Northern Irish retaillers?
19 December 2008 at 12:17
Owen Polley said…
whatever about the rest of the UK

Very much in tune with DUP thinking.
19 December 2008 at 13:20
Anonymous said…
Yes John just the other day I meet a chap from Cork who had travelled to Sprucefield. He said that the fact that prices are generally lower in NI, the slump in the pound which saw the pounds go from 65 to 90 cents in a matter of months, the increase in duty on petrol in the South and the massive 40% sales had NOT convinced him to come North - it was the 2.5% VAT cut that swung him.

Do the DUP suppport the massive tax increases - including National Insurance Contributions that are going to kick in down the line
19 December 2008 at 13:59
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