Mr Leech

- Hansard -

I rise a second time to support and submit the “Toast the Tax” petition, on behalf of the tens of thousands of employees and customers of Subway—I suppose I ought to declare an interest, as someone who occasionally purchases stuff from Subway. The petitioners are not asking the Government to revive plans for a pasty tax; they are simply asking for sandwich shop owners to be treated fairly.

The petition states:

The Petition of employees and customers of Subway,

Declares that VAT is being charged on toasted subs and sandwiches, further that as a result, the sandwich shop industry, which employs tens of thousands of hard-working people and supports thousands of small businesses, is now being placed under threat and that sandwich shop owners should be treated fairly.

The Petitioners therefore request that the House of Commons urges the Government to maintain its recent U-turn on pasties and additionally to remove or reduce the tax across the board, in line with our European neighbours.

And the Petitioners remain, etc.

[P001167]