Calls for rethink over VAT on static caravans
EAST YORKS: David Davis and Graham Stuart have demanded a meeting with Government over its plans to levy VAT on static caravans.
It is feared the tax may lead to thousands of job losses in the industry across East Yorkshire.
The MPs have joined forces to demand the Government rethinks the plan announced in the Budget last Wednesday.
North Hull MP Diana Johnson also criticised the change, calling it a "hammer blow" to the region's economy.
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The VAT will lead to a 15 per cent price hike for customers, which may reduce demand by 30 per cent, according to the Government's consultation document.
Industry leaders claim this will lead to at least 1,000 job losses in East Yorkshire as sales fall below the levels seen in 2008 to 2009, when caravan- makers had to lay off more than 1,500 staff in six months.
The UK's three biggest static caravan makers, ABI, Willerby Caravans and Swift, are all based in East Yorkshire.
They met with the National Caravan Council to decide how best to challenge the plan.
Mel Copper, chief executive of ABI (UK) in Beverley, said: "I don't think whoever has made this decision has understood the human cost.
"The £30 million they claim will be gener- ated by the extra VAT will be neutralised by the cost of job losses."
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