We allowed half an hour to change in Frankfurt - but I don't think our connection will have been held.

 
I have posted further comment - as both a hotel user and a past hotel operator - at https://grahamellis.uk/blog2041.html

 

Hotels already pay for the water and energy they use.  Roads, car parks, public transport more arguable.

 
I would support this tax, provided that it is confined to limited areas that are very popular with visitors and therefore prone to overcrowding.
Hotels use a lot of water and energy and should contribute to the capital costs of providing this.
Similar arguments apply to roads, car parks, and public transport.

 
Alterations to services between Reading and London Paddington

Due to a points failure between Reading and London Paddington fewer trains are able to run.
Train services running to and from these stations may be delayed or revised. Disruption is expected until 16:15 04/08.

Customer Advice
Owing to a problem with a section of track near London Paddington, fewer trains are able to operate between London Paddington and Reading.

 
Thanks for the info on the service revival's early years. I seem to recall two weekday services of an evening that allowed a quick circular trip via Melksham from Bath for anyone needing a fix of train travel after work - with enough time to leap off at Melksham for a bite to eat before heading back for the second train. Thinking back to the early 2000s it would be pretty good, today, to have some of the train services that Bath had then** but it's really good that Melksham now has a somewhat more rounded timetable than it did at that time.

Mark

** Full disclosure: heading for the line to Buxton in the nineties we suddenly realised that there was a weekday loco-and-carriages service from Reading to Manchester that, on the way, at 8:30 in the morning, called at Oldfield Park, fitting our ideal travel itinerary like a glove.

 
Tuesday 4th August


RTT shows 1G01 0632 Swindon to Worcester Shrub Hill as being cancelled "due to the planned train being replaced with a slower train (MS)."

 
It's not as if our politicos don't already have their hands deep enough into our pockets and then find ways to waste what they've extracted

 
Great video ...the moment at the end 26 mins in or thereabouts made me think of Dr McCoy's ' It's life Jim, but not as we know it !', Absolutely fascinating from start to finish.

 
That's a definite 'No' from me. I wouldn't object quite so much if the government wasn't wasting lots of our money elsewhere.

 

A regressive tax is structured so that individuals with lower incomes pay a higher percentage of their income in taxes compared to higher-income individuals, even if the absolute amount paid is the same. It does not consider the person's ability to pay.

This tax is a textbook example of a regressive tax.

 
Cancellations to services between Oxford and Didcot Parkway

Due to a tree blocking the railway between Oxford and Didcot Parkway the line towards Didcot Parkway is blocked.
Train services running through these stations may be cancelled, delayed or revised. Disruption is expected until the end of the day.

 
From the BBC

 

Yep, there's only one railway station in Melksham and a hundred bus stops - and with no buses at all calling at the stop at the station - so (and it applies to Lisa and me to) that final leg from the longer distance railway journey to our  front door can be surprisingly efficient changing to a bus in a neighbouring town.   

 
Yep - too late for the 1748 bus so had to be the 1818, which was about 5 mins late. But thanks to the bus stop at the other end being closer to home than the train station I was only about 25 mins later than usual, and less sweaty Delay-repay will cover the bus fare.

 
There's also a monorail in at least one of the national grid electricity tunnels under London. The main reasons are the distance and lack of access shafts, and saving of time. There is an IanVisits article about this.


One thing I have never found out is whether this has any use for pulling new cables into place when a cable is to be added or replaced. And I expect there are similar things hiding in other big bits of linear infrastructure.

 
I would object strongly; it feels very unwelcoming. When I spend time somewhere I'm already contributing to the local economy and employment whenever I spend any money. I will almost certainly be spending more per day on many things (eating out, entertainment, attractions) than the locals do.  Not my fault if the current tax regime doesn't pass that on effectively, and why charge overnight visitors but not those who just come for the day, except that they are an easy target?

On a related note, my local council gives reduced car park rates to us residents.  That does make me a little uncomfortable and feels Little Britain-ish ("local car parks for local people").  Don't we want to encourage people from elsewhere to come into the borough to spend their money here and help our local economy?  It also does nothing to encourage local residents to leave their car at home and use our pretty good public transport (outer W London) or walk/cycle for those local journeys.

PS Going somewhere on holiday in the UK isn't a staycation!  For me it's a perfectly normal holiday, abroad being very much the exception as I haven't run out of UK places I want to see for the first time or return to.

 

I don't doubt your views, but is it really regressive? Pay per head 'x-amount' is equal, and therefore is neither progressive nor regressive.

 

Driver's cab has cooled off enough as temperatures drop in the evening to make it bearable? 

 

And here is the paperwork example for Zittau from last week ... 2 night stay, 2 adults 2x2=4 pages like this to complete



On a previous visit, I can recall being "let off" - "it doesn't apply" when I admitted to being there partly to see how they do public transport - "learning".  Ironically, I actually wanted to pay to get my local bus pass!

 

 
To parody the 'A' Team (remember them?), it's great when a plan doesn't come together.

 
For comparison, the French taxe de séjour can be set by each commune within a nationally defined range. For hotels it is (this year) 0.5€ to 1.7€ for 3 star, from about half to double that for 1-5 star. It's paid via the hotel per night and per adult - none for under-18s. Things like camping, gites, and moorings are less. The list I've found does not have holiday rentals - my memory suggests it was similar to the 2 star rate.

It is still defined as for tourists, and while the range of places than can use it has been broadened it is still not available to everywhere. There are a lot of exclusions, e.g. for seasonal staff in resorts.

 
It's a firm "No" from me.

It would seem this Government is doing its level best to destroy the hospitality sector already, the last thing it needs is another regressive tax.

 

Indeed - my "bad" in the subject line.  It is per head per night where I have seen and paid it.

 

That's a Body Tax, not a room tax.

 
yep, that is likely to be right

 

A family of 4 staying 13 nights at £2 per night each would cost £104.

 
Sky News, inventing a headline? 

 
which you won't get back ever!