[FlyingChinaman]

Martyn: You are right that the business travellers will continue paying the ever increasing airport related charges BUT the leisure travellers might not and many of the victims are ordinary working class people and it is wrong for any government to penalized them with endless increases.

[MartynSinclair]

Leisure travellers, get the additional “charge” called the school holiday surcharge and you still cant get your first choice (no pun intended) holiday flight.

Hammered to death and its slightly off thread, but what are the sensible ways for revenue to be raised by Government and for this to be used for the benefit of UKBA, besides charing inbound and outbound visitors more.

[RichHI1]

I like the mistype “charing..” we can get everyone to clean 30 yds of corridor before they can come in and then they can fire some cleaners to make economies…. 🙂

I like the principle of not charging you to enter our country but I do not think that will bother the Government. Intellectually it would be more fitting to charge for leaving the country even though the budget is used on the inbound portion.

I favour going the ESTA route and getting as much automated and pre processed as possible. that can be charged for as a service. The US charges, Australia Charges for Visa so why not. As observed there are countries notably LAtin Americans who apply the reverse to UK travellers but that’s life. What we cannot have is the cash in hand payment at the airport that some countries do. Any charge should be apid on ticket. (and by the way if you charge for UKBA you do not charge UKAPD in my view. )

Anyway I see on the BBC they are going on strike now on the 10th to protest over retirement provisions.

[LuganoPirate]

I also agree you should not have to pay to enter your own country. That’s totally wrong. The UKBA is there to defend our borders from illegal immigrants and undesirable persons. My feeling is this should be paid for by taxes and not passengers who enter the country, other than by way of visa charges when applicable.

[VintageKrug]

I did mention that PCS was planning a strike on the 10th about a week ago.

[RichHI1]

Indeed you did, I was reporting the announcement on the BBC that the ISU will also be striking on that day.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-17925532

[Bucksnet]

Border control needs to be paid for one way or another. If you’re not paying directly, you are paying through your taxes. If it’s paid out of general taxation then everybody pays if they use it or not. If it’s paid by international arrivals, then the people using the service are paying directly for it, including foreign nationals that are not subject to UK taxation.

I wouldn’t mind if Border Force did not get a single penny from the state, and their whole operation at each airport was funded by that airport and passed on to us, if APD was eliminated at the same time.

[LuganoPirate]

Trouble is Government just loves to tax people anyway they can. I’m sure they have a department just to think of new ways to tax us. It’s no wonder the European economy is in such dire straits with little hope of recovering as long as people are burdened with such high taxes. Just watch France if Hollande gets elected.

[MartynSinclair]

I can now see why VintageKrug’s views are that automation is the way forward for UK nationals to pass through border control and the best way for this to be researched and funded is by additional charges levied on foreign nationals wanting to visit the UK.

I do not believe this cost should be added into the tickets cost because there is no guarantee the funds will be used for the intended purpose.

I also agree, this can not be a cash payment at the border. Either an online payment in advance or double by credit card on arrival.

Interesting if BT were to publish an article identifying those countries which charge to enter. I know many foreign nationals still have to get visas for the UK, which cost, but as Esther used to say “That’s Life”!

[Bucksnet]

I’m all for lower taxes LP.

[FormerlyDoS]

Just came through T4 at around 0630.

2 positions manned, but the hall was virtually empty and got through in a minute, most of which was navigating through a maze created with barriers, so it looks as if they are expecting it to be congested later.

All the early US flights started to arrive as I was waiting for the transfer to LGW and I bet it took more than a minute for those people.

[VintageKrug]

Proof that it’s not as consistently bad as some make out.

A combination of increased leave in advance of a summer when leave is discouraged, a new roster which didn’t adapt staffing to demand and a union-inspired go-slow in advance of the planned strike on 10 May have had the effect of causing some limited – if extreme – disruption in the past few weeks.

Once the ineffectual strike is over, and probably during it as the militants stay home, we’ll see an improvement.

[Henkel.Trocken]

Of course, one swallow does not make a summer.

Colleagues are still reporting major problems in T3 & T5, T1 & T4 seem to be slightly better with the egates working consistently which certainly helps frequent travellers.

We must not let this topic drop off the agenda.

The Home Secretary’s head needs to role.

[Author]

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