rip off britain rant not stag related

[pcoleman]

well I'm here again banging on about stuff being cheaper to import than buy at home. Now I don't mind paying a bit more to keep the home fires burning etc etc and buying in the U.k. but not 3 times the cost !! I'm in need of a decent hose for important stuff, like washing off the vehicles etc and having decided what I would buy did the recce on tinternet and found it for £75 including delivery from a U.K. source. well surprise surprise you can buy the identical bloody thing in the good ole U.S. of A, pay to ship it the 3,000 miles or so to Blighty, pay the import duty and still be £22 better off. well I'm off to read me copy of grumpy old gits guide to life now and work out what stag stuff to spend £22 on mmmmmm.

peter

[404ROD]

In the old days of purchase tax I believe there was also an import tax which was basically to make imports competitive with home produced products. This helped to keep our manufacturing industry going and kept people in jobs. When the VAT came in and replaced the old purchase tax the import tax appears to have been buried. The result was products made abroad became cheaper and so our manufacturing went bust and many factories closed and may jobs were lost. We also know what happened to our car industry. Have to tried to buy a true British car of late? - Morgan excepted.

Rod

[martin]

It's always struck me as outrageous that we seem to pay in pounds the same as they pay in dollars, mind you, that pales into insignificance compared to your find ! Martin.

[V Mad]

It works both ways you know. Some British parts manufacturers do a lot of export business.