The "Pasty Tax" vote - the facts!

Last night, an amendment was tabled to the Finance Bill, by Stephen Gilbert, to prevent the introduction of the Pasty Tax. It was lost by 295 to 260.

I understand that of the 295 MPs who voted against the amendment, all were members of the Coalition Government – namely 261 Conservatives and 34 Liberal Democrats.

The 260 MPs who supported the amendment included members from the Labour Party, SNP, Plaid Cymru, DUP, SDLP as well as the single MPs from the Alliance Party, Green Party, and Respect.

Only five Lib Dem MPs (three from Cornwall) and 10 Conservative MPs (three from Cornwall) supported the amendment.

I find the failure of Conservative and Liberal Democrat MPs to rethink their proposal for a “Pasty Tax” to be truly shocking. It is disturbing that only 15 Coalition MPs could be bothered to vote against the Government and it shows that they do not understand or wish to represent the best interests of Cornish communities.