This may have passed you by.

I’ll get this out of the way quickly and then move on to something else. There was a mini-budget which wasn’t a budget today and the Chancellor of the Exchequer reduced VAT in the hospitality industry to 5% for six months. This might not seem like a big thing until you recall that the Brexity people claimed that the UK didn’t have the power to change its taxation rate on VAT. As we are still working under EU rules………………Oh I give in!

Determined as I was not to write anything else about VAT I became distracted, made some toast, went back to reading a book, and listened to Night Tracks on BBC Radio 3. I fee calm and relaxed now, which is a good thing. The problem is that it’s 0015 now and I should be up early finding things to do. But if you do make the effort to listen to Radio 3 2300-0033 it is well worth it. I am so chilled out and I have no right to be when there is so much to do.

Earlier in the day I listened to Radio 3’s Late Junction from July 3rd, which was excellent listening. I tried to watch a film and the start of a series. Both of these are great, but I can’t seem to do it. What I need is either books or sound. Part of me does not want to invest the time looking at a screen. Memories you do not want get in to your head and I don’t want any of it. I would like to, but I just can’t do it.

I do not want fiction in my head. Books give me more ideas than I really need. They give a new view on the world and can give context to where we are, and I hate that. There is nothing new. All the political tricks have been played before and that’s because they work. All power is is the ability to inflict pain on other people. And people can be tricked in to thinking that they are on the sound of the power.

Good luck with your VAT and your Brexit. I doubt that knowing that the UK could have reduced VAT to 5% all along would have changed your mind or not, and it’s too late to point that out now. I had another really good quote from the book I’m reading, but that doesn’t matter anymore.

Enjoy your slightly reduced hotel stay, before prices go up to compensate the 15% VAT reduction.