Bunhill: Budget ideas

SUGGESTIONS are still flooding in from readers eager to help the fiscally challenged Chancellor. The aim is to raise money for the overdrawn Exchequer by taxing nuisances. Roger Keen of Fairfield, Bath, wins a bottle of bubbly for his timely idea of taing the developing of photographs.

For while the summer hols are drawing to a close, the fearsome holiday snaps season is only just beginning. Familiar sounds: 'This is another one of our hotel' and 'That blurry blob is me.'

I can see no drawbacks to a hefty Photograph Tax. It would de-clutter our ancient monuments, shorten weddings by a good hour and, who knows, it might even revive the moribund picture postcard industry.

According to Boots, 89 million rolls of film and 21 2 billion prints go through the nation's darkrooms each year. A Snaps Tax at 5p a print, say, collectable by the photo- processing labs, would yield pounds 125m - 1/400th of the way to closing the budget deficit.