Tax By Stealth On Airlines

The blinding sight of ££s outshines any sensible longer-term view: £520m worth of blinding money $ymbol$. The US embassy has issued the UK government with a letter that shows "deep concerns with the proposal" that British families must pay an extra £400 for transatlantic flights.

EMBASSY OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA

LONDON

The Embassy, on behalf of the Government of the United States of America, wishes to express its deep concern with the proposal, which raises significant policy and legal issues.

The Treasury's proposal, although cast as an environmental measure, appears in reality to constitute nothing more than a device for generating revenue from the airline community.
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However, there is no linkage between the funds collected from airlines and the mitigation of any environmental impact of airline emissions or any other environmental problem.

• Clearly, from this the Americans can see straight through the tax doctor as most people can. Unfortunately, only the Americans are saying what should be obvious.
• The Americans are responsible for there being no fuel duty (hence VAT) on aircraft fuel and so duty will be raised by a crude backdoor stealth trap. The Convention on International Civil Aviation (Chicago Convention).

The Convention exempts air fuels from tax, but Dr. James Gordon Brown decrees that the taxpayer must produce payment. A long-term view is not realistic as Brown's future in government is not long-term. Dr. Tax is nothing more than a predatory parasite feeding off the host. Raising revenue to finance the efficient running of a nation is one thing, but profligate waste on party idealism and social engineering (by subjugation) is another. Milking the host beyond the stage of “tax the rich till the pips squeak” is obnoxious in concept and nauseating in its implementation. This was, apparently, a misquote, (Denis Healey, Labour Chancellor of the Exchequer 1974 - 1979) but the ethos is there. Better to rework the phrase, though, to provide some sense of realism/idealism:

"tax the poor until they scream;

then tax them some more"

New Labour mantra

Clearly, Brown considers the present climate to offer a suitable time to impose swingeing taxation on an industry that is already struggling with record fuel prices, but the government still wants its cut to the tune of over ££ half a billion, regardless of any common sense. Common sense and money do not make a good marriage. EVER. The British taxpayer is highly 'suitable' for the parasite to feed on (the airlines will simply push the cost on to the passengers and Brown knows and simply doesn't care as long as the British people can be crushed). This simply demonstrates the well-tested and extremely well-failed means of bleeding the rock dry of its life blood. The incredibly backward and cowardly approach of yet another gloved iron fist pushed into the face of the British travelling public. If the aim is to create the maximum devastation, then the timing is perfect.

Remember, Brown has 'earned' the former description of "the best Chancellor of the Exchequer we've ever had" and had it pinned to him like a badge of honour. With UK gold reserves all but gone, sold off at its lowest value, "the best (ex-)Chancellor of the Exchequer we've ever had" has sold the country and its people down the river in a last ditch attempt to prop-up a failed economy, but this time officially in the driving seat (as pm).

Failure leading to failure is a test for the debt-based financial system.