It’s another blow to the Conservative-led government, as George Osborne has agreed to modify its controversial budget proposals to extend VAT on takeaway hot pies - in a move that was labelled by Labour as ‘U-turns from a shambolic government’. After a protest orchestrated by Greggs, the nation’s largest chain of high-street bakers, the government has signalled a retreat on tax rises on pasties and caravans. The climbdown over pasty tax will cost the Treasury £70 million annually. Now,…

David Cameron’s efforts to justify Tories’ move to slap 20% VAT on hot pasties sold by high street firms like Greggs came to a crumbly end when his claims of eating a Cornish pasty at Leeds railway station were exposed as untrue. Defending the pie tax, the Prime Minister at a Downing Street press conference, pushed that government’s motive behind the sales tax was to bring freshly baked goods in…