Party is over

If it wasn’t bad enough just with the economic troubles, Britons (and Irish) will have it tougher to get over it. Partying in the UK is becoming a luxury not affordable for everyone.

Let’s make an example. So, let’s say it is your birthday and you want to celebrate it with your friends. First step would be to call them. But calling is very expensive, is better texting. And with just one text that you can resend to everyone, it makes everything easier. So, you text them. Well, if the proposition from the Irish Green Party goes on, it will cost you 1c extra per text in taxes. Not much, but we just got started.

With everyone gathering to the party is time to take care of the supplies: alcohol and tobacco. For the second one, Ireland taxes it already at the highest rate in Europe. A packet can cost in excess of €7 when in other countries is less than half of that. But the new taxes being studied by Cowen’s government could boost that price in a 25 per cent more up to €10. Luckily I’m not a smoker. And luckily for smokers, they only can smoke in the outside. So temptation is not always around.

It’s time now to get wasted with alcohol. But hey, something is wrong here. Booze can boost to a 50p per alcoholic unit if Sir Liam Donaldson’s proposal is taken in consideration. That means getting a can of beer for not less than £1.1 (€1.25). In a supermarket, not even in a pub. And don’t even let me get started with the spirits...

Official position from the governments aims to reduce deaths by alcohol with that measure. It doesn’t escape that they also will get a huge amount of money in taxes. Not to mention that deaths by alcohol have already levelling off because of the financial crisis (it had to have something good) and the consequent descend in the sales are putting on risk more than 9,000 jobs only in Ireland.

Take that, add the actual prize for a movie ticket (€10), the previous ban on prostitution and a hypothetical overtax on chocolate, and the party is definitely over everywhere.

I think I’m gonna stay at home for my birthday.


Photo: The Simpsons.