The Dean of Wakefield's wife Pamela Greener has written and performed a campaigning ditty in the demolished nave of Wakefield Cathedral as part of the CofE campaign to halt Government VAT plans unveiled in the budget. The YouTube recording has been sent to the Chancellor, George Osborne's Office and HMRC.

The cathedral is one of thousands of CofE buildings that will be affected if the Government goes ahead with introducing VAT on listed building alterations. Campaigners are being urged to sign the two e-petitions to bring back zero rate VAT to alterations to the CofE's 12,500 listed churches. http://epetitions.direct.gov.uk/petitions/32229 
http://epetitions.direct.gov.uk/petitions/32056

After four years of fundraising in Wakefield, work finally started to renew the iconic Grade 1 listed building on March 19 - including the removal of the pews. Three days later and the Chancellor's planned VAT increase in his March budget has put the whole project into jeopardy, with the bill increasing by £200,000.

The Dean of Wakefield, the Very Revd Jonathan Greener: "Music is a powerful means of communication which is why it is such an important part of Cathedral life. "So I was delighted that my wife should write this song and make this video to support us all in our campaign to stop this crippling, unfair tax."

The Bishop of London, the Second Church Estates Commissioner, Tony Baldry MP, and Anne Sloman, chair of the Church Buildings Council have all written letters to the Chancellor to voice serious concerns about the proposed imposition of VAT on alterations to listed buildings.

The Bishop of London, the Second Church Estates Commissioner, Tony Baldry MP, and Anne Sloman, chair of the Church Buildings Council have all written letters to the Chancellor to voice serious concerns about the proposed imposition of VAT on alterations to listed buildings.

Notes
Forty-five per cent of England's Grade I listed buildings are Church of England churches.

The consultation document VAT: Addressing Borderline Anomalies, published on 21 March 2012, is available here: http://bit.ly/HmjpDV

The letters from the Bishop of London, Second Church Estates Commissioner and Anne Sloman are available here: http://www.churchofengland.org/media-centre/news/2012/03/statement-on-budget-2012-vat-to-be-charged-at-20-percent-on-alterations-to-listed-churches.aspx

This QR code, which links to the e-petition, is available as a free download for use on posters and websites: