MPs campaigning to overturn the government’s widely condemned caravan tax have extended the petition’s deadline and called on people across the country to back the move.
Seven MPs from Hull are leading the Early Day Motion and have launched a petition on the Downing Street website, with thousands of people signing their names so far.
Yet with the House of Commons not due to hear the Early Day Motion until Friday May 25th, they have extended the deadline on the petition in the hope of gathering national support for the campaign, the Hull Daily Mail reported.
Over 40 members of parliament from across the political parties have signed the motion, but Beverley and Holderness MP Graham Stuart has called on people nationwide to sign the petition and write to their MPs in a bid to force them to add their names too.
“What we need is for constituents across the country to start lobbying their MPs by signing the petition,” he told the newspaper.
“MPs listen to their constituents. Their letters are always at the top of my in-tray and if people can be mobilised to sign the petition that will make their representatives sit up and listen.”
It is feared that thousands of jobs could be lost in the caravan industry and the nation’s tourism industry would be profoundly damaged if the government’s move to add VAT to caravans goes ahead.
The move would affect all static caravans and some touring caravans, such as the Bailey Retreat and the Welsh-made Fifth Wheel tourers. As a result, the VAT on these items would be raised to 20 per cent.
What’s more, research suggests that as many as 7,000 people could be made unemployed if the caravan tax gets the go-ahead, with much of these lost in East Yorkshire where many manufacturers are based.
At the time of writing, the petition to scrap the proposed rise in caravan tax had attracted 9,788 signatories. To add your name to the petition, click here.
