A Chernobyl charity’s plea to Gordon Brown to waive airport taxes for bringing sick children to the UK for recuperative breaks has fallen on deaf ears. The Chancellor has refused to exempt it on humanitarian grounds.
The adorable looking girls in this picture aged seven and eight are currently visiting my area, thanks to the East Cambs branch of Chernobyl Children Life Line. They would not be here if it had not been for the catastrophic Chernobyl accident 21 years ago, the world’s worst nuclear power disaster. As a result, all the youngsters suffer from immune system defects and many have had forms of cancer related to the radioactivity.
They have been robbed of a normal, healthy life. The ground where they live will be contaminated for thousands of years. According to the charity, they drink contaminated water and eat food grown in contaminated soil. Only 5% of the children are left healthy. There is an alarming increase in bone marrow and brain tumours amongst children, with more of them suffering from malignant tumours of the mammary glands, lungs, bladder and kidneys.
During their respite break, the youngsters will have free eye tests and be provided with glasses if necessary, local facilities have been provided free of charge or at a reduced rate, including a game of ten pin bowling, and they will eat healthy food free from contamination. The aim is to improve their immune system and improve their health. Free dental treatment is also provided. It is a once in a lifetime holiday for these youngsters.
The charity pays the children’s £260 air fare from Minsk to Gatwick, plus £40 airport tax. It has written to Gordon Brown asking if the tax could be waived, but the request was refused. The East Cambs branch arranges two trips a year for between 10 and 12 children, resulting in a hefty £800 – £980. They have to raise £7,000 a year.
Mark Shelton brought this to my attention, his family is hosting a child for the third year, he cannot understand why charities are not exempt from airport taxes on humanitarian grounds.
“When children are being brought from an area that was contaminated with radioactivity through no fault of theirs to the UK for respite care in a clean environment, and it is all being paid for by charitable donations, I do think that the tax could be waived for humanitarian reasons. I am sure that Chernobyl Children Life Line is not the only charity that has been affected by the this tax.
“I feel that the Chancellor should show willing and waive the airport tax for these children to allow them to get respite care in the UK. I am in favour of the tax to cut pollution (and my green side says that the tax is not high enough!), but these children come from very poor families, most of whom don’t own cars and this may well be their only flight in a life time, so compared to western children they will not be causing any great pollution in their lifetimes. I don’t know whether rescue workers flying out to disaster areas or Medicine Sans Frontier for example have to pay the airport tax, but I think for humanitarian reasons, such charities should be exempt paying the airport tax so that money raised through fund raising events can be spent on the good cause in question.”
Is there any way that charities can get around paying this tax? Mark states an excellent case, so why can’t the Chancellor show a human face and make them exempt, do you also support Mark’s views?
Without being party-political here, I think it is tricky when you start to make tax exemptions for certain groups of people, however perverse it may seem. I think there should be a system where one or other of the governments involved should give that obviously deserving case a grant to cover their expenses. Then each case could be considered on its merits.
For example, the RSPB and the Friends of the Royal Opera House are registered charities but I doubt whether many would support tax relief for them when traveling. Just a thought.
As always, great story Ellee. I have seen some of the Chernobyl children really enjoying their time in the UK – which speaks volumes in itself. This story does seem very poignant, especially during a time when nuclear energy is back in discussion. Perhaps charities should all group together and try and become carbon neutral with their flights. Keep up the great stories. All the very best. Michelle
Jim, I think the difference in this case is that for humanitarian and compassionate reasons, the airport tax could be waived. Why have charity status if it can’t be applied in this way?
Ellee, whilst wishing not too cold hearted, it does seem to be a particularly odd thing to ask for if you take this to it’s logical conclusion!
Should the charity ask the Chancellor for a refund of the VAT when the children are treated to a McDonalds, how about a refund of the petrol tax spent ferrying them around by car?
Should members of the BNP pay more air tax than everyone else because they aren’t very compassionate!?!
Snafu, I think this example is exceptional on humanitarian grouds, that cannot be said for VAT exemption on a McDonalds.
Is all this man thinks about is taxing people?
I agree with you, Ellee. And you would expect GB to have more compassion. Every developed country is guilty of harming its children in some way through pollution. We have just been lucky that a disaster on the Chernobyl scale has not, yet, happened in Britain.
Your despised Vladimir Putin does just this, Ellee. The children go to camps and resorts at the government’s expense and the people displaced for a short time I’ve never heard complain.
James, Why are these poor children and their families still living there surrounded by radioactivity? It wouldn’t be allowed in the UK.
I am sorry, Ellee but I think SNAFU is right. Everything in Britain is taxed one way or another. If a charity raises money to pay for something, there is always going to be tax on the expenditures.
This is a worthy cause, we don’t need Gordon. We can do something ourselves. Here’s my proposal. I will reimburse the new airport taxes to the charity for 12 flights this year, if
(a) other readers of your site will match that donation for 12 tickets for next year, and
(b) you will finally put the Blogpower banner and Blogroll on your site. B^) You are our most famous member and we need the links!
Post the address and bank account details for the charity and let’s get to it.
Tom
Tom,
That is a very generous offer indeed. I can promise to meet your request re (b) and the Blogpower link. I had arranged for my techie friend blogger Geoff to add the link to my site a couple of weeks ago, and he walked 12 miles to my house specially to do that, but the links were not emailed to me in time. And I had asked a good three or four days beforehand. Geoff is now in Dubai, but when he returns, I will ask him to make a return visit and accomplish this as so much depends on it.
I will ask Mark Shelton to provide the bank details.
Thank you again.
Another example of the big clunking fist hurting Britons and more generally, humans. Brown can’t show a human face, he’s a robot.
Ellee, I bet the children would enjoy a Big Mac and fries!
Snafu, I bet they would too!
Tom, I’m still waiting for a response from Mark Shelton re the bank details. Thanks again.
Tom, I have just had this email in response to your comment, I hope Geoff will be able to add the Blogpower links when he returns from Dubai:
Hi
Mark shelton asked me to contact you to see if you think it Ok and safe to send bank account details to the person replying to your blog. We would of course really apreciate the donation of the equivilent of the tax for 12 children a considerable sum of money. We pay all our money into a central charity account and then draw off that aswe need it. So the Main account for the charity is lloyds 30-93-94 7353763 mentioning cambridge link but the best way is for a cheque to be banked by me made out to Chernobyl Children’s Lifeline. I do hope this is a genuine offer and could lead to others from your readers.
Many thanks for yopur article
David Hopper (Treasurer Cambridge link)
Ellee, I am trying to make a transfer to that bank account, but I am getting error messages. I think there is a number missing – the sortcode is OK but the account number is too short. Tom
Ellee,
Disregard previous message. I have made an online transfer of £960 to that account. Other readers who want to make a donation should add a zero at the beginning of the account number to make it 8 digits.
Best, Tom
Tom, You are an extraordinarily generous man, thank you so much. I will certainly see to the banner when Geoff returns.
[…] Gordon Brown hammers Chernobyl charity for airport tax […]
I would like to send a special thank you through your site to Tom Paine for his very generous donation. The children all do appreciate what we all do for them but it is the money that we raise that enables us to bring them here in the first place and £960 will nearly be enough to bring four children including this new level of tax.
Thank you again David Hopper
I would like to re-iterate David Hopper’s commnets. This is a very generous donation from Tom Payne and I would like to thank him very much and say that I appreciate a man of his conviction. I have been with the children today (Thur. 15th Feb.) on a guided tour of Ely Cathedral (provided free of charge) followed by a wonderful cream tea at the Old Fire Engine House Restaurant in Ely, again provided free by the manager.
Re. Jim’s comments, some charities and other organisations already get tax exemptions. I do not know a huge amount about the workings of charities, but in my work I deal with charity shops and they can be exempt from waste disposal charges (thus not paying landfill tax) and from business rates, and I think in some cases charities can reclaim VAT. So on humanitarian grounds why can they not be exempted from the airport tax as this is an integral part of the work of the Chernobyl Children Life Line charity (ie. getting childen out of their contaminated environment for a month). I wouldn’t class the work of the Royal Opera House (excellent as it is if you like opera) as humanitarian or possibly life saving.
Mark Shelton
[…] And I hope other deserving cases will be shown the same compassion, like the children from Chernobyl whose charity is forced to pay airport tax on their respite breaks to the UK. After I highlighted the story on my blog, a very generous blogger Tom Paine paid the money on their behalf. […]