On the British VAT plan

It seems like I am not alone in my views on the British governments "big plan" to get consumer confidence back up, the decidedly timid 2% cut in VAT.
Germany's finance minister Peer Steinbrück had a few choice words on the matter which appeared in this weeks newsweek.

"Our British friends are now cutting their value-added tax. We have no idea how much of that stores will pass on to customers. Are you really going to buy a DVD player because it now costs £39.10 instead of £39.90? All this will do is raise Britain's debt to a level that will take a whole generation to work off"