This petition was submitted during the 2015-2017 parliament
Petition The UK should follow Sweden, cut VAT for fixing goods rather than throwing away.
To combat its ‘throwaway consumer culture’, Sweden has announced tax breaks on repairs to clothes, bicycles, fridges and washing machines. Repairs are more labour-intense than production, which is largely automised, repairs actually contribute to an expanding labour market decreasing unemployment.
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Jobs would be in the U.K. not abroad, they would be where you live & benefit the local economy. Whereas large-scale manufacturing is very centralised. This will expand the number of companies giving these kinds of services so It’ll be easier for consumers to have things repaired.
It will be easier for people to buy high-quality products because they know it’s affordable to have them fixed if something breaks, giving an incentive not to buy as cheap as possible and then scrap something.
This petition closed early because of a General Election Find out more on the Petitions Committee website
15 signatures
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10,000 signatures required to get a government response