ACTIONS NOT WORDS
Whatever you think about the French, you have to
admire the way they don't let their government
walk all over them. If the people don't agree,
they do something about it, unlike us, who just
tend to moan and grumble and then do nothing
about it.
To the French, actions speak louder than words.
Could you imagine the French lethargically
putting up with (for example) the hated poll tax?
Not a chance.
Perhaps in the future, instead of moaning about
something our uncaring politicians try to impose
on us, we will take a leaf out of the French way
of doing things and man the barricades, and
finally make our uncaring, selfish, self-centred
politicians listen to the voice of the people. Chris
Cartlidge |
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FRANCE 2
When Disneyland Paris opened in 1993, the French
Government granted it a special dispensation to charge
only 6% VAT on admission ticket prices. The move caused
near riot among other French theme parks and the
Government was eventually forced to allow them all to
charge the same reduced rate of value added tax. UK theme
parks, however, have to charge the full rate of 17.5% VAT
on admissions.
The difference adds about £3 per ticket to the admission
price to the American Adventure, which cost £16.50 for
adults and £13.50 for children. American Adventure
marketing manager Dawn Kerry said, "When you are
talking about a family day out, that's quite a lot of
money. It means we are not competing on a level playing
field, we can't offer the same value day out that our
French rivals can."
Balppa, the British Association of Leisure Parks, Piers
and Attractions, is lobbying the British Government to
give them the same dispensation given to the French theme
parks. Balppa chief executive Colin Dawson said,
"We've twice petitioned the European Commission to
make France lift the dispensation but each time we've
been told it's a matter for our own Government. But
Gordon Brown, the Chancellor of the Exchequer, won't
listen, even though the tourism industry is worth £75bn
a year. This imbalance is a big issue."
It isn't just theme park admission prices that the French
Government subsidises to encourage tourism. VAT on meals
in France is only 5.5%, compared with 17.5% in the UK. Mr
Dawson added, "The French have had an easy ride for
too long. We need to act now either to reduce our VAT
rate or to force them to put up theirs."
The International Olympic Committee has
noticed that the French trade unions are staging a
transport strike while they are out and about in Paris.
And an all-out strike during the Olympics in France would
not only be a possibility, it would be absolutely
typical.
French farmers have demanded the right to
call birds “free range” even if they have to
quarantine them in cages. They plan to grab millions of
euros in bird flu compensation from the EU and also want
payouts even though there have been no bird flu cases in
France, which sells £350million of birds each year. A
union spokesman said, “It’s up to the EU to
safeguard farmers.” (Source: The Sun)
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