Labour has been told to restore a crucial scheme to its full capacity as some of the UK's historic churches remain at risk. Friends of Friendless Churches urged Rachel Reeves to get rid of a cap to the listed places for worship grant scheme, which gave relief to places of worship on their VAT bills. It said in a video online: "In the UK, you could demolish a church VAT-free. But if you wanted to repair that church, you would have to pay VAT."

It added: "This is such an absurd situation that we find ourselves in, so we are desperately hoping that later this month, when the Budget is announced, the Government will restore that scheme to its full capacity." On April 1 2025, a new annual cap of £25,000 per listed place of worship was implemented. In a blog post , Friends of Friendless Chu

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