Value Added

Scottish Country Dance Instruction

1- 4 1st couple cross over giving right hands, then cast off as 2nd couple step up.
5- 8 1st woman with 2nd couple and 1st man with 3rd couple dance left hands across. 1st couple end just outside 2nd place on opposite sides.
9-12 1st couple take nearer hands with the person on their right (2nd woman and 3rd man) and set facing diagonally to the other pair.
 Then each pair both pull their left shoulder back and cast in tandem into the centre to face the 3rd corners on the 1st diagonal: 2nd woman followed by 1st man faces 2nd man and 3rd man followed by 1st woman faces 3rd woman.
13-16 2nd man and 3rd woman dance the track of half a diagonal right shoulder reel of four. Meanwhile 2nd woman followed by 1st man, also 3rd man followed by 1st woman, each dance right shoulder around the 3rd corner positions and across the top or bottom of the set to end (roughly) in lines of three across: 1st man just above 3rd and 2nd women at the top facing down, 1st woman just below 3rd and 2nd men in 3rd place facing up. 2nd woman and 3rd man are back where they started at bar 9.
17-24 1st couple repeat the pattern of bars 9-16 from their new places:
 1st man and 3rd woman, also 1st woman and 2nd man, set and cast to face 4th corners. The corners dance half a diagonal right shoulder reel of four while the tandem pairs dance right shoulder round the 4th corner positions and up or down the sides. The order is now 3,1,2 with 3rd and 2nd couples on opposite sides.
25-28 All dance back to back with their partner.
29-32 1st couple, giving right hands, turn once round (or birl) while 3rd and 2nd couples chase half way round clockwise to end in the order 2,1,3.

(Dance crib compiled by the deviser, Murrough Landon, CC BY-SA January 2024)

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The newspapers nicknamed her Vatwoman as she had worked on introducing Value Added Tax (VAT).

Recommended music: Suggested tune A Reel For George by Pat Clark; suitable recording Golden Bracken (Andrew Lyon's SDB: Music for 2nd Book of Graded SCDs).

(Dance information by the deviser, Murrough Landon, CC BY-SA January 2024)

Strachan's civil service career began in 1961 with HM Customs and Excise. She subsequently held positions at the Department of Economic Affairs and the Home Office before returning to HM Customs and Excise in 1966 as a principal officer. Her ascent continued as she became an Assistant Secretary in 1974 and a Commissioner in 1980. Between 1985 and 1987, she led the Joint Management Unit between HM Treasury and the Cabinet Office. From 1987 to 1993, she served as a Deputy Chair of the Board of Excise and Customs, culminating in her appointment as Chair from 1993 to 2000.

After retiring in 2000, Strachan remained active in various capacities. She was a Lay Assessor on the Leggatt Inquiry (2001–2002), Vice Chair of the Big Lottery Fund (2004–2006), and a member of both the Rosemary Nelson Inquiry (2006–2011) and the Council of the University of Southampton (2006–2012). Additionally, she served on the Judicial Appointments Commission from February 2012 to July 2019.

In recognition of her service, Strachan was appointed a Companion of the Order of the Bath in 1991 and elevated to Dame Commander of the Order of the Bath in 1998. She also received honorary Doctor of Laws degrees from the University of Manchester in 1995 and the University of Southampton in 2013.

In her personal life, she married John Strachan in 1965, and they have two children.

VAT applies to most goods and services provided by registered businesses in the UK, as well as some imports. The standard VAT rate is 20% (c. 2025), in place since 4 January 2011. Certain items, such as domestic fuel, are taxed at a reduced rate of 5%, while others, like most food and children's clothing, are zero-rated. Some goods and services are exempt from VAT or lie outside its scope entirely.

As an indirect tax, VAT is collected by businesses from consumers and then paid to the government. Critics argue that VAT is regressive because lower-income individuals spend a greater share of their disposable income on VAT. Supporters, however, consider it progressive since higher spending results in higher VAT contributions.

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