Brits could be slapped with higher fares just to get to hospital under new ‘Taxi Tax'

Chancellor Rachel Reeves is under growing pressure to block the charge
'TAXI TAX' Brits could be slapped with higher fares just to get to hospital under new 'Taxi Tax'
BRITS could be slapped with higher fares just to get to hospital under a new 'Taxi Tax', campaigners warn.
Campaigners say a 20 per cent VAT hike on minicabs would 'price many out of vital journeys' and cost the NHS tens of millions each year.
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CEO of Disability Rights UK Kamran Mallick said: 'For many disabled people, private hire vehicles are not a luxury, they are essential.
"They provide a vital means of transport where public options are inaccessible or unreliable.'
Polling for the Stop the Taxi Tax campaign found 53 per cent of disabled people or those with long-term health conditions used minicabs or ride-hailing apps to attend medical appointments in the past year.
And Bolt data shows a 62 per cent jump in trips to Birmingham Children's Hospital since January 2023, with sharp rises in Nottingham and London too.
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A spokesperson for the Stop the Taxi Campaign, said: 'The NHS' own figures show how vital minicabs and PHVs are for helping patients access medical appointments.
'Increasing fares won't just make life harder for disabled and vulnerable people, it will put even more strain on stretched NHS budgets and potentially cost the health service tens of millions of pounds.'
Chancellor Rachel Reeves is under growing pressure to block the charge, which follows a High Court ruling that could force operators to add VAT to every fare.
Previously, most minicab drivers were classed as self-employed and didn't meet the £90,000 threshold for VAT - but the court ruled operators are the ones providing the service, meaning VAT could now apply across the board.
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Leading trade bodies - including the Federation of Small Businesses - warn the change could force 25,000 drivers off the road and hammer already-struggling high streets.
The Treasury says it is still reviewing responses to its consultation.
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Brits could be slapped with higher fares just to get to hospital under a new 'Taxi Tax'

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We know why the government feels this is necessary: we have eyes and the official figures provide the proof. In 2003, according to the Scottish Government, one-quarter of adults in Scotland were obese. Now it's one-third. And with obesity comes increased risk of cancer, diabetes and death and, as the UK Government points out, a cost of billions of pounds to the NHS. We are deep in a serious crisis that's getting worse. The question is how we get out of it and Tunnock's feels it is being unfairly targeted. Its sales director Fergus Loudon said in Scottish Grocer magazine that the food industry was being blamed for societal problems that were not of its making. 'Banning chocolate biscuit ads on TV before nine o'clock to prevent obesity,' he said, 'is rather like banning foreign holidays to prevent skin damage from too much sun.' A couple of things are going on here. 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Children are much less likely now to be active and outdoors because they prefer their phones but Shell also writes in Fat Wars that no-one is born with a taste for hot, bitter or sour or, for that matter, single malt or cigars: tastes develop with exposure and social pressure – and that's fine as long as the influences are good. However, as Shell points out, in the US and the UK, children increasingly dictate family food choices, which leaves households 'immersed in a miasma of one-dimensional sweet taste that reinforces and entrains juvenile preferences'. Read more Are you 'upset'? The dangers of flags in Scottish schools These are the latest plans at the Glasgow School of Art. Really? No more Edinburgh Book Festival for me – where did it all go wrong? Anyone who grew up in the 1970s or earlier will know how true this is. 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Now, kids are outdoors much less than they were, and McDonald's and KFC are a ubiquitous part of many children's diets. Result: fat kids. Maclean is well aware that an important factor in all of this is poverty. Unhealthy rubbish is relatively cheap. There was also an interesting Glasgow University study which showed that fast-food outlets are six times more prevalent in the poorest parts of the city. And it's all borne out by what happens to children and adults. By primary one, five-year-olds in Scotland are more than twice as likely to be at risk of obesity if they're from the most deprived catchments compared to the least. Roughly the same with adults: the obesity rate in the most affluent areas is 26% compared to 36% in the poorest neighbourhoods. An ad for Tunnock's (Image: Newsquest) You may think the answer to the problem is to tax unhealthy food, but Gary Maclean's concern is that it just makes life for poorer people even harder. Much better, he says, to try to get in early and encourage good habits at an early stage. If he had his way, he would make cooking and food education compulsory in schools – and it's hard to resist his logic. 'Learning to cook is just as important as learning to write,' he said. 'PE is compulsory and what you eat is just as important as what you do.' His conclusion is that Scotland has the best food in the world but the worst diet, and only something fundamental such as compulsory food lessons at school will change it. You could introduce all the rules on ads you like – you could ban ads for Tunnock's Teacakes entirely – but not only would that be unfair on a firm like Tunnock's that's trying to promote its product, it would only make a marginal difference on a population affected, and made unhealthier, by deeper trends. 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