My head's buried pretty deeply in textbooks these days, but I did think this item was worth drawing attention to:

Alistair Darling will make a high-risk bid to lead Britain out of recession tomorrow, when he is expected to cut VAT and entice the British people to go on a pre-Christmas spending spree.
...
The cut is expected to see the rate drop from its current level of 17.5 per cent

Meanwhile, of course, down here in the Free State, VAT is set to go up from 21 to 21.5% as of Monday week.

Should do wonders for the "don't shop in Newry" campaign, huh?