Bad news for campaigners against bed tax: two equally mad ideas lasted 27 and 155 years respectively. Hearth Tax, a tax on heat, ran from 1662 to 1689, with people blocking up chimneys to avoid it. Window Tax was in operation from 1696 to 1851, making duty payable on light and fresh air.
Bed tax is a levy on a good night's sleep. After all those late sittings in the House of Commons, surely MPs will know the value of this - a luxury, it ain't!
For a young pub group such as ours, where revenue from bedrooms plays an important part, it's yet another daft piece of regulation that makes us feel Tony Blair is talking through his hat when he says he supports entrepreneurs.
Lee Cash and Hamish Stoddart
Peach Pub Company
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