It costs money, jobs and drives foreign visitors away from London: apart from that, the tourist tax is a fine piece of Treasury policy. So it is with great relief that retail, hospitality and leisure businesses across the capital have greeted reports that the Chancellor, Jeremy Hunt, has ordered a review into the tax, paving the way for a reversal.
Hunt’s predecessor-but-one at No11, Rishi Sunak, ended tax-free shopping for tourists in 2020, meaning foreign visitors could no longer reclaim VAT on their purchases. Yet the only winners of this policy have been Paris, Rome and Madrid. Indeed, recent analysis from the Centre for Economics and Business Research reveals that the removal of tax-free shopping is deterring two million tourists each year from visiting the UK and costing the economy£11.1 billion in lost activity.
This report comes as more than 400 business leaders representing firms in hospitality, retail, luxury, travel, tourism and the arts signed an open letter to the Chancellor, organised by hotelier Sir Rocco Forte, arguing that the policy has made the UK the most expensive place to shop in Europe, with every country still in the EU offering sales tax rebates to foreign shoppers. Ministers hate U-turns, but they are vastly superior to bad policy. The Chancellor must scrap the tourist tax in the Budget.
Unhealthy inequality
There are many metrics to measure the strength of a nation. GDP, military might or cultural capital. But an underrated one is how long it can keep its citizens alive and by that measure, Britain is going backwards.
Figures from the Office for National Statistics show that males in London’s most deprived boroughs have a life expectancy of almost two years less than they had a decade ago. Males in Newham have suffered the largest drop, followed by Redbridge and Haringey. Yet the same data set finds that life expectancy has risen in many of the capital’s wealthier boroughs.
This is not simply a Covid-19 one-off. Income, education and lifestyle choices have a significant impact on health and mortality. Yet while it is firefighting and managing near-record waiting lists, the NHS is simply unable to take sufficient action on the preventable conditions that contribute so much to this inequality. This is the result.
Zut alors, les SUVs!
The cost to park most larger vehicles in Paris is set to triple, following last night’s referendum. It means a six-hour stay could come to nearly £200. Infuriated French motorists have no choice.
They must save money by driving onto the Eurotunnel and buying their fresh produce in Folkestone. Just make sure you have your sanitary and phytosanitary export certificates for the ride home.
