Plaid Cymru the Party of Wales Deputy Leader Jill Evans MEP has welcomed the European Parliament's rejection of plans to remove the VAT exemption on postal services. The European Commission proposals would have put up the price of a first class stamp in the UK. The Welsh Euro-MP voted against the proposals at the European Parliament in Strasbourg today.

Speaking from Strasbourg, Jill Evans MEP said:

"I'm very pleased that we've been able to overturn these proposals. The Commission's position was badly thought out and unconvincing - they once again failed to take adequate account of the consumer's interests and so it's hardly surprising that their ill conceived plans should have been rejected.

"There are certainly issues to be resolved around distortion of competition, but these plans would have unfairly penalised non-business users of postal services.

"If these plans had got through, it could have meant the cost of a first class stamp shooting up in price with the addition of VAT. This is particularly relevant at Christmas - just imagine the additional costs to the consumer of adding VAT to the price of stamps for Christmas cards.

"Penalising users of postal services in this way is not what the European Commission was set up for and I'm delighted that we've been able to stop them in their tracks."

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