Save the economy? No, VAT's pandering to the powerful | Simon Jenkins

George Osborne's VAT rise illustrates an unbending truth of politics: it's easier to raise £13bn from the poor than upset VIPs

Today's rise in VAT, according to the chancellor, George Osborne, is the shortest route to economic salvation. According to Labour, it is a dangerous, indeed reckless, curb on demand, "the wrong tax at the wrong time." Which is right? Since I agree with the government in attacking the monster deficit, I hesitate to agree with the reprobates who created it. But I do.

The...