Expensive Britain?

Question

I read in the papers the other day that britain is one of the most expencive places in the world to come on holiday & it is putting tourists off coming on holiday here.

If we are one of the most developed countrys in the world, why are we so expensive?

Shouldnt we be one of the cheapest?

OR IS IT BECAUSE OF TAX TAX TAX TAX TAX?

Answer 1

We have to support our governments wages and their massive pension schemes. Also last few years we have allowed 600,000 immigrants into the country and we pay for them. So in the end the public and tourists pay for our incompetent Blair government.

Answer 2

Britain is expensive to visit only if you came from certain countries. Visitors coming from Nordic countries find us quite cheap. Also it depends what you are looking for, eating out is more expensive than some places but buying clothes can be cheaper. The real thing that makes a country expensive is not tax but how strong your currency is compared to the country you come from. The Canadian dollar is weak at the moment so they get less pounds to the dollar and find all of Europe expensive the Japanese Yen is strong so they lots of pounds for their money and find Europe cheap.

Remember taxes pay for things you need. I prefer to be able to afford to go to hospital despite being poor, unlike many in other countries with lower taxes.

Answer 3

Britain is an oil producing country. Resource-rich countries tend to have overvalued currencies. At the extreme, all other industry is damaged or wiped out, but the British economy is too large for that.

In any case, the UK economy -- financial sector especially -- is so closely tied to the American one that the impending devaluation of the dollar, inevitable because of Bush having raided the Treasury, reduced taxes on the rich to wipe out the Clinton surplus, and then having borrowed heavily in China and elsewhere to pay for his Iraqi folly and further tax cuts, is going to cause depreciation of the dollar.

I tell Americans to buy their wheelbarrow now. A dollar devaluation will probably bring Sterling down a bit too.

Answer 4

It's not tax, it's the mindset of the business people in Britain. You know why they call it "Rip off Britain"? Because British business will take as much as it can get away with, often charging over the odds for shoddy goods and shabby services. And because British consumers do not complain, unlike those in the USA, companies in Britain will continue to rip us off. LIke taking candy from a baby.

Answer 5

We have a modern day Robin Hood in charge of Taxes - 'Bent Brown - He steals from the British and gives to anyone else in the world. What a Scots Pratt!

Answer 6

In theory should be a lot cheaper to live in Britian. Tax on everything is high....... Scottish whiskey cheaper in South Africa than in Scotland petrol is taxed heavily which runs into everything else becasue all has to be transported. Fruit and veg is way too dear as is meat etc....the supermarkets dominate the price war.

Answer 7

Only 14% of US citizens possess passports, so that's why most of them don't visit the UK, or anywhere.

The British are notorious for not bothering to learn foreign languages. Anyone without a decent grasp of English knows that they could have a hard time communicating with the locals.

Answer 8

Tax. And we import more than we export too.. We have little of our own industry and farming is lower than it's ever been. A lot of our food is imported, this all adds to cost of living. Our over heads such as fuel, electricity, water is high as well.. this is why things are expensive here.. talk to any small business man..

Answer 9

I agree with copperyclover. Last time I was in Britain the bank charged 5 pounds to cash an amex traveller's cheque.

Answer 10

It's the taxation that makes us so expensive. If you compare the prices of cigarettes, alcohol, petrol, diesel, cars with any country in Europe (let alone the US) you'll realise just how much this government screws its people.

Whether its Labour or Conservative, historically we, the UK population has ALWAYS been overcharged compared to any other country, and it seems to me that we all just accept it now.