Has Labour taken it literally when people said they are ‘doom and gloom’ and are now giving discounts to theme parks and kid’s attractions as a bit of fun?

[speckledpinkhen]

Whilst these are all quite ‘sweet’ initiatives and will help some families. Lower price theme park entry and cinema tickets don’t really help average working families with the cost of living crisis. Am I just being a grump?

I would rather they did something that helped a wider variety of people like changing the tax bands.

That would be unaffordable.

Twiddling round the edges. When we are at a point that the government want to fix the price of basic foods we need to step up as a country and sort things out. Not fiddle around giving people a bit of money off a day out.

This!

The point is to support businesses as well as families.

Its not good for anyone if those industries considered to be “non-essential” completely collapse.

Definitely. I think as a country we spend way too much on benefits (excluding real sickness benefits). My daughter works hard in a care home and would love discounted theme park tickets. Why reward people for not working?

She’s a twit this government is a joke

What is it that you don't like about this holiday scheme?

To the person who replied to me earlier - yes it is a good thing that we will very likely make use of, I was just annoyed that £1.50 return was used as an example of a typical bus fare. It's part of general urban-centric bias where buses are seen as a cheap and available option so it touched a nerve. I did flag that it was a tangent :)

So VAT on paid for education is paying for Legoland? Wtf.

No, 'everybody' is not. This is worth fuck all if you don't have children.

No, it is not.

No because as those who are anti the ending of this VAT break frequently remind us (unnecessarily) it’s not ring fenced!

It’s in the general pot like everything else.

Some of the VAT cuts apply to adult tickets too.

Plus keeping the industries going (the actual point of this) benefits everyone, even those who don’t like any leisure attractions

Unfortunately yes, that is exactly what some people do. I’ve seen it as an employer trying to find new staff, and I’ve seen family members also send off terrible applications as they are determined to stay unemployed as long as possible. Not the majority of course, but it definitely happens.

Because while the chancellor is micromanaging ticket prices at theme parks, she's not focusing on the really important stuff that only government can do. Bring down the cost of energy by increasing supply, expand housing through planning reform and building, simplify tax systems and remove cliff edges that disincentivise work, etc etc.

And why VAT on attractions? If she's worried that people need an extra (say) £15 in their pocket, why only those who visit them? Does she not trust people to know where they most need £15? What about those who needed it for heating or lighting or food, or something else?

What we need is for the government to fix the 20 year slump in growth and productivity. This sticking plaster shows they don't understand the assignment.

Average cost of a childrens meal in a restaurant in the UK without VAT £7.20. With 20% VAT added it’s £8.64.
Under the discounted scheme at 5% VAT it will be £7.56.

Maybe I’m just being miserable but I can’t see a £1 saving per child making a huge difference to the footfall in a restaurant.

i may be wrong

I agree with this. If you struggle to afford two kids meals £17.28, lowering the cost to £14.40 is hardly likely to make a big difference.
Likewise theme park tickets. I am old enough to still think of these as really big days out for birthdays rather than somewhere you would just go in the school holidays, but even with a 15% saving, it's still going to be an expensive day out and beyond the reach of a lot of families.
I think this will mostly appeal to those who probably would have gone anyway and are happy to pocket the saving. If you are struggling so much that £3 is a big deal (and don't forget adult meals will still be full price), you're hardly likely to be going to restaurants and theme parks.

Free bus travel- teenagers who are 15 years old or less (or claim to be) making joyrides, not behaving, and generally being a nuisance to others, once they have got up each day. Better to have reintroduced the £2 cap for a few weeks.

As for the other reductions, I am not convinced the reduced VAT will be passed on to customers.

They just don’t want another “stuck in your bedroom” generation.

I am still extremely pissed off about the VAT on education because it was spiteful and personal and my kid didn’t even end up at private school. So I won’t be forgiving that, ever. Political trauma runs deep.

Grow up

Well you have just made it up, the VAT cut applies to everyone

I imagine it would help if you could let them know what communism is, because lower prices to Chessingtons did not really occur to Marx and engels

All of this is stupid (not you, others on here) labour could have discovered eternal life and people on here would say it was the wrong shape

Id rather they had free bus travel for to and from school rather than a month in the summer.

On your last point this vat cut is for everyone.

On your point about being unemployed I can't speak more recently but Cameron made it very rigorous. I had to go and sit for a few hours each week as people watched me apply for jobs (the same I would applied for anyway)