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LONDON () -- Prime Minister John Major faced a knife-edge parliamentary vote Tuesday over a hefty tax hike on home heating, with his finance minister warning Conservative dissidents they would be "extremely foolish" to rebel over the issue.
Up to 14 members of the ruling Conservative party were ready to abstain or vote against the bill, dealing a second blow to Major after right-wing "Euroskeptics" rebelled last week over financing for the European Union.
Raising Value Added Tax (VAT) on home heating fuel from 8 percent to 17.5 percent is an emotional issue, since it could hit pensioners and the poor.
Heated U.K. Debate
07 December 1994
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