£1.30 a night Anglesey holiday tax scrapped: why England may still get one

A plan to charge visitors to Anglesey £1.30 a night for a hotel stay has been dropped after a public consultation came back firmly against it. People staying in shared accommodation, such as campsites, would have paid 75p a night. The charge would have applied to the roughly one million people who visit the island off the Welsh coast each year.

The result was not close. According to the consultation, 83% of businesses on the island rejected the levy. So did 84% of visitors and 58% of people who live on Anglesey. Businesses warned that the charge would hurt people who rely on the seasonal tourist trade. They also said it would put the island at a disadvantage against resorts that do not charge a holiday tax.

Visitors said plainly how they would respond. Six in ten said they would cut their stay short if the tax came in, and 66% said they would think about booking somewhere else instead.

That matters on an island where, according to figures reported by the Daily Mail, around one in five jobs depend on tourism. Towns including Holyhead, Beaumaris, Llangefni, Amlwch and Menai Bridge all rely on visitors, and tourism is worth about £360 million a year to the local economy. The TaxPayers' Alliance estimates that the levy would have driven away around 45,000 visitors a year and cost the area about £14 million in lost spending.

Benjamin Elks of the TaxPayers' Alliance said the rejection "should be a stark warning to ministers considering similar taxes in England". He said tourism taxes risk pushing visitors away and adding costs to hospitality businesses, and urged ministers to "focus on helping the sector grow". Campaigners have aimed the same message at Andy Burnham and the Labour Party.

Allen Simpson, chief executive of UK Hospitality, called the holiday tax "deeply unpopular with both businesses and visitors". He said any council that pushes ahead should expect strong opposition. With families still under cost-of-living pressure, he argued the Government should be making breaks cheaper rather than adding new charges, and should scrap the tax altogether.

The fight is not over. The Welsh Government said it is up to each local authority to decide whether to bring in a levy after consulting its communities. In England, the Prime Minister has confirmed a plan to give regional mayors the power to put a tax on overnight stays, with the money kept locally. Supporters say the cash could fill funding gaps and pay for things like transport links.

For ordinary households, the point is simple. A week away for a family can already cost more than many can afford, and a charge on every night soon adds up. Anglesey shows that when people are actually asked, they say no. Whether mayors in England listen to that answer is the next test.