There are many ways the government could have avoided hiking VAT and stuck to their pre-election plans. They could have cut spending a further 2% rather than the mere 3.3% they are planning to shave off spending. The best solution to unfunded over-spending is to reduce spending, not raise taxes. The UK’s gross contribution to the EU budget exceeds the expected income from the VAT hike…

Both the LibDems and the Tories knew how bad the deficit was before the election and yet both said they had no plans to raise VAT, yet it was raised in the first budget. So what changed?