Other than that this proposal comes from Brussels there’s not really all that much wrong with it:

Britain was on a collision course with Brussels last night as fears
grew of a new European Union push to end the right to exempt children’s
clothes, newspapers and books from VAT.

Wider tax bases with lower rates are generally though to be preferable.

The Treasury said the exemption was worth more than £28 billion to UK
households each year and saved low income households four per cent of
their annual spending.

No, I’m not going to bother looking it up but that would appear to be a sufficient sum to reduce the VAT rate to 15% (the lowest permissible level).

EU countries must apply a general VAT rate of between
15 and 25 per cent, with lower rates of not less than five per cent on
a limited range of goods, usually essential or local services.

The UK applies the lowest rate on domestic fuel and power.

That’s the rate that has to go though. Domestic emissions are a significant part of the UK’s contribution to climate change so that lower rate really is an absurdity.

Indeed, I would argue that it’s a litmus test. Any politician, campaigner or political party who is not arguing that domestic fuel and power should pay the full VAT rate simply isn’t being serious about the whole affair.

As far as I’m aware, no politicians are so arguing, ergo, none are in fact serious.