Brighton and Hove is addressing its sweet tooth by becoming the first British city to introduce a voluntary “sugar tax”.
The local council is calling on food and drink shops to impose a 10p surcharge on all sugary soft beverages, with the proceeds to be put into a children’s health and food education trust.
Well, there’s my business strategy all worked out then. The sugary drink shop that tells the council to go take a hike.
We can depend upon the SJWs to protest about that decision, thus providing all the advertising the operation would need.
Brighton. Who would have thought it?
‘The local council is calling on food and drink shops to impose a 10p surcharge on all sugary soft beverages, with the proceeds to be put into yurt holidays, tickets to Glasto, amyl nitrate and ipads.’
“The proceeds to be put into a children’s health and food education trust.”
Or a Public Health quango, in other (and fewer) words.
Won’t this mean all the merchants are going to have to reprogram their tills to allow for an additional, voluntary tax? And how will this be handled in their own accounts to HMRC? And will the customers be able to deduct it from their own tax bills as a charitable donation, with the amount indicated on the receipt?
I get the impression none of these clowns in Brighton council realise what a ball-ache this is going to create.
@Tim N
Strange impression – these people are normally perfectly on top of things and have thought through all the implications of their actions.
If Camilla Batmanghelidgh had put 10p into Kids Co every time she guzzled some carbs, it would still be pretty plush.
The Meissen Bison – “If Camilla Batmanghelidgh had put 10p into Kids Co every time she guzzled some carbs, it would still be pretty plush.”
The problem seems to be that she tired of working under cover and wanted to become Camila BruceWayneghelidjh but had to steal to get his millions.
Lots of businesses pay voluntary taxes. It doesn’t seem to do them any harm as it gains them some free publicity. I remember watching an English rugby coach recently reviewing the smoking hole that is his career, sitting in front of a board covered in logos of sponsors. All of whom were paying something they did not need to pay. Go into any small business and I bet you will see some cause they are supporting whether it is just the Lions or the Scouts or the local Girl Guides.
“I get the impression none of these clowns in Brighton council realise what a ball-ache this is going to create.”
Providing ball-ache seems to be the sole purpose of Brighton council. They positively revel in ball-ache. I find it hard to believe it’s unintentional.
The fingerprints of the Mockney Tosser are all over this. It’s very difficult to argue against this sort of thing when speaking to the usual middle class British mother, it’s for the chiiiiiildren you see. No amount of rational discourse will shift their views.
Lots of businesses pay voluntary taxes. It doesn’t seem to do them any harm as it gains them some free publicity.
That’s not quite the same, nor is it the same as an individual handing over a donation. This is an individual handing over a cash donation to a retailer who then passes it on to a charity. I’m sure this has been done before and the HMRC have all the necessary forms and codes to deal with it, but probably not by Patel’s newsagent.
“… with the proceeds to be put into a children’s health and food education trust.”
Which will, naturally, require top operatives to run it – and they’ll have to be suitably remunerated. Trebles all round!
Jonathan,
And naturally they’ll need a chauffeur who will need his children’s private school fees paying.
@TN
“I get the impression none of these clowns in Brighton council realise what a ball-ache this is going to create”.
And that’s why the majority of outlets will simply ignore it, just as the government has done. The Essex arsewipe will then have to find something else to preach about to bolster his authoritarian credentials with the faithful. I’m surprised Corbyn hasn’t offered him a position yet.
It’s just copying the carrier bag bollocks. From that they hope you will give the proceeds to charity but they will publish what you say you do with them so you will be shamed and denounced if you choose not to.
It’s just copying the carrier bag bollocks.
My local Carrefour in Paris has stopped providing them, and it is a serious pain in the arse. We’re all going to end up going around with those stupid string bags the Soviets used to carry.
Most pubs and some small shops have collection boxes on the counter.
Those who want this voluntary tax should form a charity and get collection boxes made with Voluntary Tax on Sugary Drinks written on them.
But of course this means they’d have to do some work, far easier to go around shaming shopkeepers who don’t do this and have to pick up the burden of administering it.
There are three ways this goes down: those that don’t charge extra sell more stuff (yay) and those that do but tell the council to fuck off and keep the additional 10p make a higher margin (yay). Those that do charge extra and pass the money on see their profits hit, which’ll learn ’em (yay).
This is nothing more than virtue signaling.
The appropriate response is a loud, firm “Fuck off”.
It is that that Brighton council receive its quietus.
That south-coast shithole has already disgraced this nation by voting a piece of greenfilth into the HoC and now this. Shut them down. Sack all their employees and begin a true terror tactic. A forensic accounting audit of their financial dealings for the last 30 years. Every council in the UK would shit themselves at that prospect. The arrests and corruption sentences would keep the press busy for months and it would encourage all the rest of the Councils to keep their heads down lest the same thing come their way.
It is time that not that that.