Farron welcomes major victory as caravan tax is slashed

South Lakes MP Tim Farron has thanked local businesses for their support following the news that his campaign against the 'caravan tax' has been successful.

Thanks to the campaign, which highlighted the potential cost of 7,000 jobs in the caravan industry, Chancellor of the Exchequer George Osborne yesterday announced that he has dropped his plans to levy 20% VAT on static caravans. The rate will now be just 5%.

The tourism sector plays a vital role in the Cumbrian economy, providing around 32,000 jobs (Full Time Equivalents) and £2bn of investment in the local economy each year. Tim has for many months been running a campaign to boost tourism in theSouthLakesand has been seeking to promoteCumbriaas an 'attack brand' forBritain's tourism industry.

Tim recently launched an initiative to get Twitter users to use a #visitcumbria hashtag. President Barack Obama during his recent State of the Union address launched a #visitUS campaign which asked people to tweet their favourite place inAmericaand why they loved it in a bid to boost tourism. Tim is hoping that residents can do the same with the hashtag #visitcumbria. He has also proposed that a cross-Cabinet committee be set up in order to coordinate government policies affecting the tourism industry.

Commenting, Tim said: "This is a great victory for our campaign to persuade the Government to think again. It is wonderful news, not just for the caravan manufacturing industry, but also for local park operators and communities all over Cumbria. I want to thank local caravan park owners and our tourism sector. All their help allowed me to go into the Treasury and make sure that this climb down happened. Together we did this!"