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

 

Echoing the Builders Organisation is Federation of Master Builders Cut the VAT Campaign, his ‘plan for growth’ came in a speech to the Labour Party Conference in Liverpool on 26th September in which he vowed a Labour administration would have an “iron discipline” on spending.

 

His five-point plan included a boost for growth by cutting VAT to 5% from 20% 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.