On the 25th of March, I supported a cross-party letter led by the Scottish Liberal Democrat Jamie Stone MP in a bid to appeal to the Chancellor to waive VAT on energy products. The proposal, backed by many other MPs, called for the Chancellor, Rishi Sunak to implement a VAT moratorium on energy products. This proposal is similar to the VAT moratorium that businesses received, meaning that VAT is waived for businesses until 30 June 2020.

The proposal is important to those who are in low income as they face increased energy costs as more people stay at home due to social isolation.  A VAT moratorium on energy products also benefits those who have become recently unemployed due to the pandemic. All efforts must be made to reduce energy costs for those facing economic hardship to prevent more households from going into fuel poverty.