Darts & VAT

Since I mentioned Darts in my last post I will start with it now.

Phil Taylor did not retain his PDC World title last week despite coming 2nd in the BBC Sports Personality of the Year. This must have been a big disappointment for him, but an even bigger one for the tournament organisers and sponsors as nearly all of the top names were despatched by the quarter final stage.

Runner up Gary Anderson and one of the other three semi finalists Mark Webber were both BDO players 3 years ago, so it was a good event for the BDO in a strange sort of way. I cannot say that I like the winner, Adrian Lewis - for a young man he is excessively overweight and he has a cocky approach when on the oche, however as world champion I guess that is now validated.

The other darts world championship is of course still underway. This is the original BDO version of the sport at the Lakeside and it features Martin “Wolfie” Adams seeking to defend his title.

So far there has been little to really excite. Wolfie and John “Boy” Walton had a fairly exciting second round encounter, but despite the competitiveness of the match the scoring and doubles percentages were only OK-ish. The BDO number 2 was knocked out last night after an abysmal performance and right now it looks like Martin Adams or the current Grand Slam of Darts Champion, Scott Waites, as red hot favourites for the title. O Shea, Hankey and Fitton all went out in round one!

What effect will the 2.5% VAT rise have in the UK? I listened to an idiot from the government explain that it should only add £300 to the average family bill over the course of a year – sure!!

However, he then went on the say that this extra cost could easily be averted by careful spending and that, with a minimal amount of retailing habit change, the average expenditure could remain unchanged.

So the big question is, if we all change our spending habits to counter the increase, thereby spending less, generating an equally reduced level of VAT, why bother increasing it in the first place – there will be no revenue benefit and the economy will slow down still further. What a moron!

However, as is often quoted in political editorials, “people get the government that they deserve”.

Great though that the leader of the Labour party has criticised the VAT increase, he is the very man who was proposing it as far back as 2008. How’s that for moral guidance.