As ever, we blindly inch forward. Such is the condition of our lives. And it is little different with our governments. Sadly, the last coalition government was not a particular outlier in having made dozens of so-called U-turns over its five-year term. You'll remember the caravan tax, the pasty tax and the proposed removal of tax relief to large charity donations. All these were snuffed out before they saw daylight.
But some pretty bizarre taxes have actually made it to the statute book. Back in the first century, the Roman emperor Vespasian introduced the urine tax, levied on those who collected the stuff from latrines for various and rather alarming uses including laundering clothes and teeth whitening. When his son complained about the distasteful nature of the tax, Vespasian is said to have held up a gold coin and declared, 'pecunia non olet!', or 'money doesn't stink' - a remark which has remained with us for two millennia. 'Daylight robbery' – a phrase used in response to unfair expense - arose from exactly that: the introduction of the hated window tax in the late-17th century. Incredibly, this tax lasted until 1851.
We've endured many others, from the 16th century beard tax to the 18th century hat tax. Even – under Henry I – a cowardice tax, or scutage, was levied against those unwilling to leap into combat and risk life and limb in his service. In the last 40 years, as successive governments signed a series of European treaties, we've been repeatedly assured that taxation was not an EU matter. That we would remain in the driving seat of our own fiscal - our tax and spending - policies.
But unfortunately, as I've discussed before, when Parliament debated the tax on feminine hygiene products last autumn, we discovered we hadn't the power to remove the five per cent VAT. With France and others charging a massive 20 per cent, the necessary agreement from all 28 member states looked tricky. Last year the eagle-eyed and vigilant EU Commission spotted that the UK was charging just five per cent VAT on many green and energy saving materials and products, so they complained to the European Court of Justice. What are these crazy fools doing in Britain, they said, charging a measly five per cent?
The European Court of Justice again wholeheartedly agreed, so this week we're told that we must impose a VAT increase to 20 per cent on solar panels, insulation, draught strip, central heating controls, hot water system controls, both wind and water turbines, ground and air source heat pumps, micro combined heat and power units and biomass boilers, among other things. Like many MPs, I object to this on both environmental and democratic grounds, but I realise that we won't actually be able to prevent it.
This past week has, on so many fronts, seen some stumbling governance. A step back in our eternal inching forward. I hope this gives us time for one or two profound rethinks, and I'm certainly encouraging such reflection.