Budget :- HMRC says 8 x 3 = 8 + (3 + 1) whilst opening mail

From 1st January 2011 the way cigarettes are taxed will be changing, tax will be charged according to the length of the cigarette, measured from the end of the filter. (No, it really isn't April 1st)

It would seem there are new rules, tucked away in the bit of the Budget called "Enforcement and Compliance" measures. HMRC have, in their wisdom, decided that smokers of longer cigarettes have been avoiding paying duty, so

any cigarette longer than 8cm (When did UK start legislating in metric?) – excluding the tip – will be treated as another cigarette and have extra duty slapped on it.

For each additional 3cm, or part thereof, it will be treated as yet another cigarette.

This means that a 12cm cigarette, for example, will be treated as three cigarettes.

How they manage to work out that three centimetres of tobacco is the same as eight centimetres is not revealed, perhaps mathematics was not HMRC's strong point.

So, not only have cigarettes already, instantly, gone up in price by 4% + 15p per pack of 20, they've changed the rules too. That lovely Mr Darling was remarkably quiet about this when he spoke to Parliament.

It's beginning to look as if he's expecting smokers to plug the government's financial black hole. Wouldn't it be nice for Parliament to decide that, as smokers are so generous, they could have accommodation at least equal to that provided for livestock?

Also tucked away in the 'Budget' small print and which amends section 106 of the Postal Services Act 2000, is legislation enabling HMRC to open mail without a warrant, and without informing the addressee - who is not required to be present.

The document, presumably a statutory instrument, is entitled “Tackling tobacco smuggling in the post”.

HMRC said :

the powers would be applied much more broadly.

Mrs R isn't in the least surprised, nor is Heather Taylor, a senior tax partner at Grant Thornton, who said:

“This seems like a very small and limited change, but it could be a very big step for increased powers HMRC. Once new powers are in the hands of HMRC they tend to be extended.”

There's a heck of a list of "Budget 2010: Budget Notes". Too many to plough through. Of course Mr Darling wouldn't have missed anything else out of his speech.

Would he?

....

Censorship by Postie?

Mrs R has noticed that posties in the West Country are being threatened with disciplinary action (the sack) if they refuse to deliver thousands of BNP leaflets that they claim are "right wing rubbish". It says so in the Times, here

Mrs Rigby's house is listed with the mailing preference service, so she doesn't get much junk mail, although she does get local, unaddressed, leaflets - some she reads, some she recycles unopened. That's the thing Mrs Rigby likes, she chooses what goes into the bin, and why.

Mrs R doesn't think it's up to a postie to decide what she can and can't read. She thinks that, if they could do that, they would be censoring her mail and censoring the information she can receive. She thinks they could limit her choices and influence her personal decisions, according to their own, and she doesn't think that's the right thing for a postie to do.

As Mrs R sees it, if an individual, group or organisation has paid a delivery fee it's up to the postie to do the delivering. Nothing more, nothing less.

She wonders, for a silly moment, what would happen if posties were allowed to filter mail according to any one of their personal scruples, preferences, prejudices and choices, and were allowed to choose to deliver only what they believe in. Would her household get any mail at all? Would Labour, Lib Dem and UKIP leaflets be delivered, would somebody refuse to deliver Christmas cards or postcards describing a delicious meal of lamb, steak or chicken?

Reading the article a bit more carefully, Mrs R noticed this little snippet. It says

The Communication Workers Union claims Royal Mail is breaking a “conscience clause” agreed four years ago which allows staff to refuse to deliver literature they find offensive.

and

The clause says members don’t have to deliver material if they feel threatened or if it is against their personal beliefs.

So, that's all right then! They aren't doing anything wrong!

Actually, Mrs Rigby disagrees, for the reasons she's outlined above, she doesn't think her postie should try to act as her moral guardian.