A message to the Chancellor: make the most of your summer holidays because we'll be waiting on your return.
Five weeks ago, we launched our campaign calling on Alistair Darling to push back the VAT increase, freeze alcohol duty and extend trade credit support.
We urged you to help us persuade the Chancellor not to light the fuse on a Christmas time bomb. And how you responded.
Every day we continue to be inundated with letters from suppliers, retailers, trade bodies and consumers joining our cause.
MPs have also lent their support, among them 10 Labour MPs including Keith Vaz, John McDonnell and Lindsay Hoyle who have broken ranks with the government and signed an Early Day Motion calling for action. Indeed, at the time of writing, 25 MPs representing all the major political parties had signed EDM 1885 in support of Push Back the Tax.
And a big thank you must go out to The Daily Telegraph for flattering us in the sincerest way with the launch last week of its Keep the Rate campaign calling on the Chancellor to stick with the 15% VAT rate.
The momentum is with us and as parliament enters recess, there is no time for respite. The Grocer will continue to wage war on behalf of the food and drink industry on these vital issues.
We need your help to ensure that, when Alistair Darling and friends return from their summer sabbatical, they are greeted by a barrage of fresh testimonials.
You'll be in good company. Tesco, Sainsbury's and Diageo are just some of the industry giants that have already lent their weight to Push Back the Tax!
"I would urge the Chancellor to delay the VAT change until a more sensible date," says Lucy Neville-Rolfe, Tesco corporate and legal affairs director.
"It would help our staff enormously if it took place towards the end of January on a Sunday night, after the key Christmas and sale period," she says.
It is difficult to overstate just how harmful a reversion of VAT to 17.5% at Christmas would be. The timing, on 31 December, would exacerbate the pressures retailers already face during the most crucial trading period of the year.
And it's not just the £90m estimated cost of implementing the 15% to 17.5% increase to consider; there's the human cost too.
Independent retailer Lesley Brown says she will be working well into the early hours of 1 January 2010 to re-price 7,000 items. It's no way to see in the new year, "but we've got no choice", she says.
Shop floor workers across the country will be forced to forgo family time to work overtime and ensure the change is effected. Shoppers looking for an early new year bargain, meanwhile, will be left feeling short-changed.
If they want to drown their sorrows, it won't come cheap. With the double whammy of the VAT increase and the 2% duty escalator kicking in, drinks manufacturers and retailers not to mention cash-strapped consumers face two price hikes in the space of a few months.
Freeze duty and the drinks industry has a chance of seeing out the recession. Fail to do so and 75,000 jobs are at risk, according to a joint submission signed by the five main trade organisations, handed to the Treasury ahead of the Budget in February.
The third prong of our campaign to extend trade credit protection until the end of the financial year is no less important. The withdrawal of trade credit insurance on 31 December, when orders are at their biggest and suppliers' working capital is under most pressure, is a time bomb waiting to explode.
For many suppliers, it will mean a choice between supplying stock without cover or turning away custom. Neither is attractive when business is booming, let alone in recession.
The scenarios set out above are frightening, but avoidable. The Early Day Motion is a positive step. EDMs are formal motions submitted for debate in the House of Commons. Although very few are actually debated in parliament, they are an important means of publicising the views of MPs, drawing attention to specific events or campaigns and demonstrating the extent of parliamentary support for a particular point of view or cause.
The fact that Push Back the Tax! has drawn support from every major political party proves the politicians are on our side. Ultimately, it is actions, not words, that will win this battle.
Parliament may be in recess, but we need you to continue your lobbying efforts. After all, it's you, the retailers and suppliers, that are at the mercy of this ill-conceived piece of government policy.
Write to your local MP. Persuade them to sign EDM 1885. Talk to fellow retailers and suppliers and ask them to do likewise.
Display your support for Push Back the Tax! in shop windows and get the British public onside. Because at the end of the chain, they, too, will feel the burn from this injudicious legislation.
Give us the ammunition to put a compelling case to the Chancellor when parliament reconvenes in October.
The greater your support, the greater our chances of victory. Let's give Alistair a first day back to remember.
Five weeks ago, we launched our campaign calling on Alistair Darling to push back the VAT increase, freeze alcohol duty and extend trade credit support.
We urged you to help us persuade the Chancellor not to light the fuse on a Christmas time bomb. And how you responded.
Every day we continue to be inundated with letters from suppliers, retailers, trade bodies and consumers joining our cause.
MPs have also lent their support, among them 10 Labour MPs including Keith Vaz, John McDonnell and Lindsay Hoyle who have broken ranks with the government and signed an Early Day Motion calling for action. Indeed, at the time of writing, 25 MPs representing all the major political parties had signed EDM 1885 in support of Push Back the Tax.
And a big thank you must go out to The Daily Telegraph for flattering us in the sincerest way with the launch last week of its Keep the Rate campaign calling on the Chancellor to stick with the 15% VAT rate.
The momentum is with us and as parliament enters recess, there is no time for respite. The Grocer will continue to wage war on behalf of the food and drink industry on these vital issues.
We need your help to ensure that, when Alistair Darling and friends return from their summer sabbatical, they are greeted by a barrage of fresh testimonials.
You'll be in good company. Tesco, Sainsbury's and Diageo are just some of the industry giants that have already lent their weight to Push Back the Tax!
"I would urge the Chancellor to delay the VAT change until a more sensible date," says Lucy Neville-Rolfe, Tesco corporate and legal affairs director.
"It would help our staff enormously if it took place towards the end of January on a Sunday night, after the key Christmas and sale period," she says.
It is difficult to overstate just how harmful a reversion of VAT to 17.5% at Christmas would be. The timing, on 31 December, would exacerbate the pressures retailers already face during the most crucial trading period of the year.
And it's not just the £90m estimated cost of implementing the 15% to 17.5% increase to consider; there's the human cost too.
Independent retailer Lesley Brown says she will be working well into the early hours of 1 January 2010 to re-price 7,000 items. It's no way to see in the new year, "but we've got no choice", she says.
Shop floor workers across the country will be forced to forgo family time to work overtime and ensure the change is effected. Shoppers looking for an early new year bargain, meanwhile, will be left feeling short-changed.
If they want to drown their sorrows, it won't come cheap. With the double whammy of the VAT increase and the 2% duty escalator kicking in, drinks manufacturers and retailers not to mention cash-strapped consumers face two price hikes in the space of a few months.
Freeze duty and the drinks industry has a chance of seeing out the recession. Fail to do so and 75,000 jobs are at risk, according to a joint submission signed by the five main trade organisations, handed to the Treasury ahead of the Budget in February.
The third prong of our campaign to extend trade credit protection until the end of the financial year is no less important. The withdrawal of trade credit insurance on 31 December, when orders are at their biggest and suppliers' working capital is under most pressure, is a time bomb waiting to explode.
For many suppliers, it will mean a choice between supplying stock without cover or turning away custom. Neither is attractive when business is booming, let alone in recession.
The scenarios set out above are frightening, but avoidable. The Early Day Motion is a positive step. EDMs are formal motions submitted for debate in the House of Commons. Although very few are actually debated in parliament, they are an important means of publicising the views of MPs, drawing attention to specific events or campaigns and demonstrating the extent of parliamentary support for a particular point of view or cause.
The fact that Push Back the Tax! has drawn support from every major political party proves the politicians are on our side. Ultimately, it is actions, not words, that will win this battle.
Parliament may be in recess, but we need you to continue your lobbying efforts. After all, it's you, the retailers and suppliers, that are at the mercy of this ill-conceived piece of government policy.
Write to your local MP. Persuade them to sign EDM 1885. Talk to fellow retailers and suppliers and ask them to do likewise.
Display your support for Push Back the Tax! in shop windows and get the British public onside. Because at the end of the chain, they, too, will feel the burn from this injudicious legislation.
Give us the ammunition to put a compelling case to the Chancellor when parliament reconvenes in October.
The greater your support, the greater our chances of victory. Let's give Alistair a first day back to remember.
No comments yet