Eye catching, but...

I may be thick (and probably am!) but if the shops around here are offering discounts of anywhere between 10 - 25% with no appreciable effect on the number of punters coming in to buy, it is difficult to see how reducing VAT by 2.5%, however welcome, is going to make any difference. And as essentials like food and children's clothes are VAT exempt anyway it's not going to be of any help to those at or near the breadline. More a matter of style than substance it seems to me.