UP to 3,500 guests across three Butlins holiday resortsstayed in bed this morning as a protest against the government’s proposed bed tax.
Inspired by John Lennon and Yoko Ono’s iconic bed-in against the Vietnam War in an Amsterdam hotel in 1969, guests at Butlins Resorts in Bognor Regis, Minehead and Skegness took part in the mass bed protest from 9am to 10am.
The bed tax is being proposed by the government’s Lyons Inquiry into the funding and function of local Government and could see a 10% extra levy on all overnight stays in hotels, B&Bs, holiday parks and holiday cottages across the UK, in addition to VAT.
The effect could see an increase of between £100 and £150 for a week long UK break at Butlins for a family of four in the peak holiday season.
Butlins managing director John Dunford said: “We’re giving the Butlins community the chance to show their opposition to this ludicrous proposal by taking to their beds and signing an anti-bed tax petition. You’ve heard of a sit down protest – well, this a lay down protest.”