Michael Gove says he would scrap VAT after Brexit if he is elected Conservative leader

REUTERS / Phil Noble

Michael Gove has announced plans to scrap VAT if he is elected Conservative leader.
On Sunday, the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs unveiled a radical economic plan in The Sunday Telegraph.
Gove proposed replacing the 20 per cent tax on goods and services with a "lower, simpler, sales tax" after Britain has left the European Union.
Gove also took aim Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn, whose party he said: "would wage war on opportunity and attack enterprise."
Meanwhile, Boris Johnson was interviewed by The Sunday Times. In the interview, Johnson said he would retain the £39 billion ($50 billion) divorce payment demanded by the EU until Brussels agreed "more favourable terms."
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Conservative leadership hopeful Michael Gove has announced plans to scrap VAT if he is elected.

Writing in The Sunday Telegraph, the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs unveiled a radical economic plan, which he said was "driven by the need to increase investment, productivity and wages across the country."

Gove proposed replacing the 20 per cent tax on goods and services with a "lower, simpler, sales tax" after Britain has left the European Union — a date that is currently slated for 31 October.

"If I’m Prime Minister of this country I want to ensure it’s the best place in the world to live, learn, raise a family, achieve your potential and start, grow and run a business," Gove wrote.

"That will require someone who is ready to lead our country’s economy from day one and to seize the economic opportunities that Brexit presents, and the chance to change Britain for the better."

Gove also took aim Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn, whose party he said: "would wage war on opportunity and attack enterprise."

"I would take on Jeremy Corbyn’s Marxist message with a smart pro-business economic plan that would ensure Britain was the best country in the world for ensuring free markets, free enterprise and competition spread more wealth to every individual," Gove wrote.

Reuters

Gove’s radical economic manifesto comes in the wake of him admitting to taking cocaine "on several social occasions" when he was a journalist more than 20 years ago.

Several UK newspapers branded Gove a hypocrite after a 1999 article in which the then-columnist advocated the tightening of drug laws resurfaced.

According to The Times, FBI and US Drug Enforcement Agency officials warned Gove that his confession could see him banned from travelling to the United States in future.

On Sunday, a major interview with Gove’s leadership rival Boris Johnson was also published in The Sunday Times.

In it, the former Foreign Secretary and Mayor of London described guiding the country "between the Scylla and Charybdis of Corbyn and Farage and on to calmer water."

"This can only be achieved by delivering Brexit as promised on 31 October and delivering a One Nation Tory agenda," he said.

Johnson also claimed, if elected, he would hold on to the £39 billion ($50 billion) divorce payment demanded by the EU until Brussels agreed "more favourable terms."

On Friday, UK Prime Minister Theresa May officially resigned as the leader of the Conservative Party.

Under Britain’s parliamentary system, the new prime minister will be chosen by around 160,000 members of the governing Conservative party, without the involvement of Britain’s 47 million voters.

11 Conservative MPs are currently in the running for the job.

A series of secret votes will be held until the list has been whittled down to the final two, with votes scheduled to take place on Wednesday, June 19 and Thursday, June 20.

Conservative party members will then vote on who they want to succeed May as Tory leader and prime minister of the UK.

By the end of next month, the UK will have a new prime minister.

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