But Exchequer Secretary David Gauke pointed out former Chancellor Alistair Darling, according to former Business Secretary Lord Mandelson's memoirs, favoured raising VAT - and challenged him to explain why "so few" Labour MPs voted against an increase in VAT last year.
Lord Mandelson, in turn, cemented his role as the motor industry's darling by describing it as "the cornerstone of Britain's manufacturing economy" and stressed its importance to "our skills base, our engineering supply chains, our niche manufacturing skills".