The Coalition Government announced in June that it was to increase VAT from 17.5% to 20%, as it took desperate measures to reduce the UK's debt mountain.

Those changes come into effect tomorrow (Tuesday), with the British Retail Consortium (BRC) already warning of the effect it could have on the fragile retail sector. BRC director general Stephen Robertson says, "Our snapshot shows retailers expect a difficult December to be followed by a tough 2011. They believe the VAT rise will ...