World Book Day is a wizard wheeze for Jamie Stone
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NORTH MP Jamie Stone made a wizard contribution to World Book Day by donning a Harry Potter scar.
Mr Stone, the MP for Caithness, Sutherland and Easter Ross, used the occasion to raise awareness of Axe the Reading Tax – a campaign calling for the removal of VAT on digital publications.
Printed publications have always been zero-rated but their digital equivalents are subject to 20 per cent VAT.
Mr Stone is part of a campaign to "axe the 20 per cent tax" so that children with dyslexia – who benefit from being able to customise print sizes and apply screen filters on a digital device – are not unfairly taxed.
Speaking on World Book Day, Mr Stone said: “I’m sporting a Potter scar because I want to bring attention to the Axe the Reading Tax campaign.
“By refusing to make a simple change to our tax system, the Government is making it unnecessarily difficult to boost literacy and promote reading.”
Mr Stone also took the opportunity to pay homage to authors such as JK Rowling who have encouraged many children to read. It has been suggested in the past that Mr Stone bears a passing resemblance to Rowling's boy wizard Harry Potter.
The Liberal Democrat MP tweeted a photo of himself beside a Harry Potter cardboard figure with the message: "Spot the difference #WorldBookDay."
