Chancellor Aiming At The Wrong Target With A Proposed Increase In...................

[10ClarionSt]

..............the price of tobacco. If he wants to raise more money, there are two obvious targets - drinkers and motorists. Motorists have been bearing the brunt of the Tories mis-management of the economy anyway, but raising the price of cigarettes won't raise half as much as an increase the cost of alcohol. 

The effects of alcohol already costs the economy 10 times more than the effects of tobacco; domestic violence; death on the roads; town centre violence; absenteeism, not to mention the burden on the NHS to treat alcohol related illnesses. Virtually every adult in this country is a drinker to some extent, but of course none of them are responsible for any of the above. Oh no no no. Not me mate. It's the rest of'em! I'm the only one in step! 😊

[Ken4155]

^

You mean the old Miloko Plus bars where Alex and his Droogs hung out, TTT😉

[ToraToraTora]

I was thinking of the Korova Milk Bar ken.....

 

[ToraToraTora]

Love the tables!

[Ken4155]

I stand corrected, TTT. Watched the film many times and always laugh when they serve themsselves with the miloko plus.

 

[Auntypoll]

13.54 yes tax avoidance schemes and non dom status used by the super rich. ISAs and pension tax relief are not in the same league. People earning average salaries are taxed on income, then purchases  and services on top of that. We, the general public, are soft targets as we don't donate millions to the various political parties each year so have no influence. More Tax on alchohol and cigarettes will make people poorer -they will not stop drinking or smoking. Poorer people eat less healthily and use the NHS more. There is no reason that any company or individualshould be able to avoid paying tax when they are making billions a year.

[nicebloke1]

 ^^ Hitting the working man or woman is easy and immediate. Trying to hit the big boys with experienced accountants and highly paid lawyers is far more difficult and can take months if not years, along with being expensive. In other words the big boys are able to fight back.

[Deskdiary]

Why aren't they in the same league?

 

Tax avoidance should be actively encouraged. Nobody, rich or poor, should pay more tax than they need to.

 

I see zero difference to a millionaire avoiding tax to a 'normal' person avoiding tax through an ISA.

[nicebloke1]

A normal person can only put a max amount in an ISA. A millionaire / business can find many ways to lose money from under the nose of the taxman.

[Deskdiary]

So?

[nicebloke1]

So, your theory is wrong in more than one way.

[tomus42]

The hospitality industry is struggling to survive as it is. If they start cracking down on alcohol the way they have smoking, it's finished.

[nicebloke1]

Eat and drink out to help out. I don't think so Mr Hunt.

[10ClarionSt]

Thanks again folks. The effects of alcohol are too damaging to this country. If people are prepared to put up with those effects just to keep the bars and pubs open, then the problem is right there. As I've already said, alcohol costs this country much more than any other consumable.

[barry1010]

10C, the vast majority of people don't have a problem with alcohol.  When they drink, they drink in moderation, causing no health problems to themselves or nuisance to others.  They might go days or weeks without drinking alcohol at all.  There is some benefits to drinking some alcohol in moderation.

Binge drinking is a problem, drunkenness is a problem but the majority of people who drink don't get in that state.  Out of 45m + people over 18 in England and an estimated 620,000 are alcohol dependent - 1.34%.

I have only ever known one truly 'social' smoker - somebody who never buys cigarettes and only smokes the odd cigarette whilst out socialising.  Every other smoker is an addict, needing fag breaks during working hours, smoking from first thing in the morning to last thing at night.  Every single cigarette is harming their health - and the health of those around them.

[youngmafbog]

You cant ban alcohol, they tried that in the US and look what happened the birth of the US Mafia reign.

The big difference with smaoking to alcohol is that it is easy to brew, not so easy to grow a tobacco plant.

[10ClarionSt]

I'm not saying ban alcohol. I'm saying it should be taxed a lot more than it is. There was a survey by the John Major govt, just before the election in 1997, that said, even then, that the effects of alcohol were costing this country 10 times more than the effects of smoking. I don't have a link to that survey despite trying to find it, but the report about it was in The Sunday Times in April 1997. 

I also don't believe that passive smoking is harmful to anyones' health. Smoking itself, yes, but not passive smoking. 

[davebro3]

They reckon Roy Castle was a non-smoker & got lung cancer through performing in smokey venues - principally working men's clubs in the 60s & 70s.