Boris promises cheaper household gas bills if Brits back Brexit
EXCLUSIVE: The Former Mayor of London claims leaving the EU will mean ministers can slash the price of our gas bills
BORIS Johnson and Michael Gove today promise to scrap VAT on household energy bills if Britain backs a Brexit.
In the first cash sweetener of the EU Referendum campaign, they argue that leaving the EU will allow ministers to bin the "unfair and damaging" £2 billion a year tax on gas and electricity prices.
Writing exclusively for the Sun, the Tory "Out" campaigners promise: "Fuel bills will be lower for everyone."
Currently, VAT of five per cent adds over £60 to domestic dual-fuel bills.
Brussels bans member states from going below five per cent.
Labour’s Gisela Stuart has also signed the piece, which argues that leaving the EU will also boost wages and allow the UK to regain control of our borders.
It says: "We believe working people will be better off if we leave the EU.
"The NHS will be stronger, class sizes smaller, and taxes lower.
"We’ll have more money to spend on our priorities, wages will be higher and fuel bills will be lower.
"Leaving the EU is a great opportunity for us to take back control of our borders, our economy and our democracy."
The Tories introduced VAT on energy bills in 1993, six months after "Black Wednesday" when Britain crashed out of the European ERM currency union.
Writing in The Sun, the Out campaigners argue the VAT on bills hits the poorest hardest.
They claim the £2 billion tax cut can be funded out of the £11 billion a year saved from Britain’s contributions to the European Commission.
The row comes just two months after a bitter battle over the "Tampon Tax" highlighted Britain’s impotence at setting its own tax rates.
Chancellor George Osborne was forced to go begging to Brussels to secure the right to "zero-rate" VAT on the sanitary product.
Leave campaigners claim that the Commission has yet to confirm this will happen.
The attack once more positions the bitter EU Referendum campaign as a row between working-class Brexiteers and pro-EU supporters in the establishment.
Mr Johnson and Mr Gove argue that Sun readers will be the ones forced to pay higher taxes if Britain remains in the EU – and picks up the bill for the Greek economic crisis.
They added: "What makes this so unfair is that a huge slice of this cash will go to the bankers who are funding the IN campaign."
Separately, Tory Out campaigner Chris Grayling will tomorrow claim Brussels is planning to unleash a massive new power grab over key aspects of life if voters choose to remain in the EU.
Commons leader Chris Grayling will use a speech to say Eurocrats are currently on their "best behaviour" but are preparing to move "full steam ahead" with a string of controversial measures unless we cut ties on June 23.
On Monday it emerged hedge funds and investment banks have commissioned a range of private exit polls in an attempt to make profits from the result of the referendum.
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