Tax on Imports under £135

Lord Brooke of Alverthorpe Excerpts

Monday 14th July 2025 Lords Chamber

[Lord Livermore (Lab)]

Again, I am very happy to take that as a Budget representation. As the noble Lord knows, we keep all taxes under review, but I will not be speculating on the next Budget.

[Lord Brooke of Alverthorpe (Lab)]

My Lords, the Government have very wisely produced a number of 10-year strategic plans for the country, which have generally been welcome. The one area where we have not done any serious work is on taxation, and the fact is that both the wealthy and less wealthy are going to have to pay more money in the future to deliver these strategies. On VAT, there is a good deal of opportunity for flexibility, and the Minister has indicated that a review is taking place. Could that not be widened to see how far VAT could be extended to raise additional funds? Beyond that, could we not think about a review for a 10-year strategy on taxation for the country? We might try and bring in the Opposition to get them involved with it, too.

[Lord Livermore (Lab)]

I know this is something that is close to my noble friend’s heart, and he has made those points to me several times. As I have said before, I am happy to take that as a Budget representation, but I am not going to speculate on the next Budget now.