A rise in VAT could be the way to fund social care

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Funding social care is essential (PA)

With so much hand-wringing and heated argument about funding essential social care, can I offer a solution that could afford other benefits?

We have a huge obesity problem in the UK, which impacts significantly on the NHS that has to deal with the related health issues. How about considering a hike in VAT that would be unarguably ethical and could have very positive health outcomes? A junk food tax would not be too much of a challenge to formulate and might be bracketed – for similar health reasons – with tobacco and alcohol taxes.

This would have to be unequivocally mandated, positive and clear in its intentions and backed by medical science. The tax generated would offer a multifaceted benefit and if an individual is prepared to pay more for products that have little or no nutritional value, they might have the satisfaction of knowing that they are supporting a good cause.