WHAT’S that sound I can hear? Is it the noise made by yet another screeching U-turn from the Government?

No, it’s not the broken manifesto pledge about not putting up tax. It’s not even the second broken manifesto pledge, ditching the pensions triple lock, or even the broken manifesto pledge about overseas aid.

And no, it’s not the volte-face over Covid passports either.

This time it is the keynote government policy on reforms to the planning system that looks like it’s going to be ditched in the face of recent polls that show support for the Government in something of a meltdown.

Think back to August 2020 when the Government published its Planning for the Future White Paper, which the prime minister described as “radical reform unlike anything we have seen since the Second World War”. The new scheme was designed to fast track the building of 300,000 new homes a year as promised in the Government’s manifesto.

Under the proposals, all local authorities would be obliged to draw up a development schedule which would include land being placed into different ‘zones’.

Land would be categorised ‘growth zones’, which would be for substantial development; ‘renewal zones’, with a presumption for development as long as it is suitable, and ‘protected zones’, which would continue to be restricted.

But here’s the problem, once land was zoned as ‘growth’ or ‘renewal’, it would have virtually automatic planning consent and residents would be blocked from raising any objections to developments on that land. Critics of the scheme had been vocal in warning that the plans would undermine local democracy by removing the public’s right to be heard in person.

And it looks like those critics may have won, forcing the Government into the aforementioned screeching U-turn.

It appears it is the good people of Chesham and Amersham we have to thank for frightening the Government into changing its mind.

If you recall, the Tories had a humiliating electoral defeat in the Chesham and Amersham by-election and a lot of the success of the victorious Lib Dem campaign was put down to the proposed zonal planning policy which was seized upon by the Lib Dems in campaign ads.

There’s a lesson for the Tories here, never underestimate the ability of angry middle-class people to organise and campaign.

It would appear the Government is now so concerned about Chesham and Amersham anger being replicated across other leafy suburb constituencies that the Planning for the Future plan is going the same was as all those other Tory pledges.

Who’d have thought?

On another subject, I couldn’t help but smile when I saw that Northwich pub The Penny Black is reducing its prices by 7.5 per cent for one day this month to mark so-called Tax Equality Day.

Let’s not forget, shall we, that The Penny Black is a Wetherspoons pub, make of that what you will.

Anyway, at the moment all food and drink in pubs is subject to five per cent VAT as a result of the VAT cut by the Chancellor in July 2020 in response to the effects of the pandemic on the hospitality industry.

But given that the Government is basically saying the pandemic is over (it isn’t over by the way), the discounted VAT rate will start to return to pre-Covid rates.

So on October 1 it will go up to 12.5 per cent, with the Government aiming to get it back up to 20 per cent next year.

This has prompted Wetherspoons to have a bit of a moan.

Charlotte Bailey, the manager at The Penny Black, told the Northwich Guardian: “It is unfair that supermarkets pay zero VAT on food, but pubs and restaurants, in normal circumstances, pay 20 per cent. Pubs have been under fantastic pressure for decades due to the tax disadvantages it has with supermarkets.

“As a result of the VAT increase to 12.5 per cent on October 1, we will have to increase food prices. On Wednesday, September 29, we will increase prices on our meals by 50p.

“We urge the Chancellor to create tax equality between pubs and supermarkets by making the current VAT regime for pubs permanent.”

Let’s just take a little look at that, shall we? Not all supermarket food is zero-rated for VAT. According to the Government’s own website, food and drink for human consumption that are always standard-rated include alcoholic drinks, confectionery, crisps and savoury snacks, hot food, sports drinks, hot takeaways, ice cream, soft drinks and mineral water.

The point of this is that zero-rating applies to food and drink considered to be essential, and the last time I checked, having an all-day brunch in a ‘Spoons’ wasn’t considered essential.

I’m not even sure it’s considered desirable.