MPs float self-service checkouts charge
UK shoppers should pay a transaction charge of 1p when they use self-service checkout machines, as part of a drive to heal generational divisions.
That’s a proposal put forward by the parliamentary panel on social integration, chaired by Chuka Umunna. The aim is "to counteract potential damage caused by a lack of everyday contact between people" and to raise money for intergenerational projects.
"We all know that Brexit has been incredibly divisive but what we have seen over the course of our inquiry suggests that generational division extends far beyond the realm of politics into our daily lives,” says Umunna, who defected from the Labour Party earlier this year to found Change UK.
Tom Ironside of the British Retail Consortium comments: "A new tax, particularly one that penalises modern shopping behaviour, will harm both consumers and retailers at a time when retailers are rightly focused on delivering the best value for shoppers.”