Leading article: Unfair terms

Treat those two impostors just the same, the poet Kipling famously said, in his advice on how to meet with triumph and disaster alike. Now travellers will have a third to contend with.

An imposta di soggiorno is being added to hotel stays in Venice by the local council. In return for the extra €10 (£6), tourists get a sticker on their bill reading "Thank you for being a sponsor of the splendour of Venice".

It is, of course, one of the world's most beautiful cities. But beauty is not everything – as another poet helpfully reminds us. "I like not fair terms and a villain's mind," Shakespeare's eponymous merchant of Venice said. He had a point.