Letter: Toyota warning means Britain must choose to join Europe or join the Third World

Sir: Sir Teddy Taylor's Article "Beware! VAT on food" (29 January), though broadly accurate, is misleading in one notable omission - we already have VAT on food in the UK. Most snacks, biscuits, confectionery, fruit juices and soft drinks incur VAT at 17.5 per cent, which was not imposed by Brussels but under the present government. Other EU countries tax these products at lower rates.

Furthermore, the current EU legal position (Directive 92/77/EEC) was agreed by EU finance ministers voting in unanimity in 1992. This directive was signed on behalf of the UK government by the then Chancellor of the Exchequer, Norman Lamont MP.

PATRICIA MURTAGH

London SE11