The Sun claimed victory in its pasty tax campaign this morning after Chancellor George Osborne scrapped the unpopular plan and said he had ‘listened to Sun readers”.
The paper carried the story on its front page this morning under the headline ‘Pasty la vista, Taxman”, hailing Osborne’s u-turn as a ‘spectacular victory’for its ‘Who Vat all the pies?’campaign.
The policy changes will mean food left to cool naturally will not be subject to VAT if it is not reheated or kept warm after coming out of the oven.
Osborne told The Sun: ‘I’ve listened to Sun readers and others and I’m glad we’ve got a solution that’s fair.’
He added: ‘The British people understand this Government has had to take a lot of difficult decisions to clear up the mess Labour got Britain into.
‘But they also want to make sure those decisions are fair and that we listen. It was right to sort out the confused rules on the taxation of hot takeaway food. But in solving this problem we don’t want to hit small businesses like bakeries.’
It also quoted Cornish Lib Dem MP Stephen Gilbert saying the u-turn would trigger ‘dancing in the streets’in Cornwall.
A week after the proposal was first mooted The Sun ran a picture of Osborne under the headline ‘Let Them Eat Cold Pasty”.
Email pged@pressgazette.co.uk to point out mistakes, provide story tips or send in a letter for publication on our "Letters Page" blog