Brown's VAT proposals grounded in Brussels

Mark Mardell reminds us of something that occuured in the EU a couple of months ago when Gordon Brown managed to persuade the other leaders to look into cuting VAT on environmentallly friendly goods.

Unfortunately as Mark reveals it has become stuck in the mud so to speak

Many at the time thought the leaders and the Commission were willing to give him the headline, but precious little of real value.
British diplomats haven't been told by Downing Street to push the idea, and currently it's stuck in the office of the commissioner for taxation.
The Commission tells me that this is not a new idea; it is at least two years old.