Taxing Health
As you know the Government has been telling us all that we do not take enough exercise and that is a contributing factor in the huge obesity problem this country has.
Meanwhile over at Ainslie Park leisure centre we are now told that leisure will now be subjected to VAT. Read on.
Dear Customer
At the moment many of our activity charges are exempt from VAT. However HM Revenue and Customs have recently advised all Leisure Trusts that all memberships and combination tickets which include the use of a sauna, Turkish or spa within the one price,are liable for VAT. the resultant loss of income to Edinburgh Leisure would be an estimated £630,000 per year which would significantly impact on our service.
So,as 1st October 2007 the punters will be charged more and this in an area of multiple deprevation. So much for encouraging people to take exercise. It is already financially difficult for residents of Wardieburn, Royston, Granton to afford the already expensive swimming,use of the Gym or any other of this centres activities. The centre has already been hi-jacked by the better off so the local punters are financially excluded anyway.
How on earth did the greedy Customs and Excise manage to come up with any good reasons as to leisure been VAT rated. Once again a tax on the poor is clearly visible. Why not go the whole hog and make Ainslie Park Leisure Centre a private club it practically is anyway. Who allowed these VAT vultures to tax Leisure,surely they are answerable to the Government,and do not come up with these quaint ideas on their own. The poor already pay the bulk of the taxes and get most of the shit thrown at them. What appeal do they have,why none of course.
So once again the poor get shafted. They have no representation nobody listens to their voice,only at election time,once that’s over they go back to being ignored. As soon as we get up in the morning we are taxed,this great country of ours is a land of milk and honey for the revenue,who milk us to death. There is a war out there,not the one in Iraq,the one against the ordinary joe who is screwed at every turn. The war on the motorist goes on at pace with ever new ways to screw more money out of them. The war has now been widened to make sure the people who might enjoy a trip to their local leisure centre are shafted good and proper.
As per usual those that might have gone once or twice a week to their local centre will have to think twice about wheather they can afford to go or not. But our better off friends will have no such worries. In fact it will create more space for them so they can swim around the pool or sit in the sauna talking about how rough they have it. Our heart breaks for them.