OT but Probably of Interest - Phone Line Tax

I oppose it and will sign the petition, but it's actually not arbitrary as such. IIUC it's hypothecated to provide the finance to drive the installation of the fibre optic infrastructure needed to implement superfast broadband into most homes

Personally I think that, since it's the ISPs who'll no doubt charge us a considerable premium for such a service, they should pay for the infrastructure provision.

Guy

In article , News writes

If this is correct, it would be outrageous* to charge phone line customers - this would mean pensioners with no internet connection would be paying. The cost should be recovered only from those who use it.

David

The coffers wouldn't be so empty if that unelected git in charge hadn't given billions to bail the banks out and then let them have bonuses for getting us in the crap in the first place,should have just jailed or sacked the bstds.

Plenty of money to give away abroad to third world countries to reduce their so called carbon footprint but none to help people here with drugs they need for a better quality of life.

Allan

I think it's about time that the 'maximum wage petition' went up on the site - somewhere around 2/3rd's of Browns wage would be about right?

where does the =A326 cme from .. it says 50 pence a month ..which works out =A36 a year .

all the best.markj

With what I have to pay to get a decent speed with a decent contention ratio, even £26 pa would not be a significant increase. The 50 new pence per month is a pittance that will be an excellent investment for the nation if properly hypothecated.

Mark Rand RTFM

Perhaps I should have done just that! I didn't read the post carefully enough to pick up on the anomaly. I do now seem to recall that it's 50p per month, which, as you say, is not unreasonable.

Does anyone know where the figure of £26 came from (other than the OP)

Guy

Mis-read as 50p per week? Henry

Good thinking!

Guy

I was told 50p/week and with that suggestion in mind mis-read the motion. Appologies to the collective blood-pressure.

Richard

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In article , Richard Shute writes

That may be so. However, one thing I have noticed about governments is that they will often slide in the thin end of the wedge: "it's only a small contribution to the cost" ... and then when you have accepted the principle they will jack up the amount until it hurts. This is exactly what they did on student university fees.

The best time to keep the b******s' hands out of your pocket is right at the start.

David