3mo ago

Labour plots ‘family bathtime tax’ on water bills

www.telegraph.co.uk

8 comments

IMO those measures should include allowances for family size, but people with swimming pools should get eye watering bills.
- Yep.
  But for fuck's sake. Let's put some taxpayers' money into public funded pools and gyms, again.
  Post thatcher privatised gyms etc. It have become absurdly expensive for anyone on a budget to get regular exercise. And swimming really is the easiest for physically less mobile folks to gain from.
  Everyone should have access to near by low cost swimming pools.
He'll do anything except make huge businesses actually pay the taxes they're supposed to.
I wish public lies spread with the intention to mislead the public were a criminal offence.
- Unfortunately, while I love the law. This would not class as a lie in court. Just an absurd interpretation of the plan.
  Most families have larger houses than most single people. Those who bath children use more water than those who shower them.
  So yeah, this change in charging could lead to some families paying more to bathe. Of course, it's a distortion. And could be applied to any tax with enough work.
  Much as they do for any form of charge that effects the more wealthy. They are just looking for the angle that lets them distort its effect in votes minds.
  
  This would not class as a lie in court. Just an absurd interpretation of the plan.
  Fair enough although I would argue that attempt to mislead is quite clear here.
I don't understand this, if you on a meter you already pay more if you use more. Filling something huge like a pool or watering a large garden over a season costs a fair old wedge. A swimming pool can easily be 50000l, or about the same as an entire average persons usage for a year.
Is this effectively dynamic pricing for using more for those on metering, or an alternative to metering for the ~40% of households that don't have meters?
The former seems punitive when they are already paying more and the latter seems like it will be deliberately set to benefit the largest homes, the ones with pools and acres of gardens, at the expense of larger families in comparatively small homes.

8 comments