The residents of the UK are repeatedly “Raped and Pillaged”, financially & economically by the many businesses that see the British Isles as “Treasure Island”.

And it is about to happen again. This time round the marauding buccaneers are Apple and Nintendo.

The Apple iPad 2 goes on sale in UK shops tomorrow. The starting price, including VAT, for the basic 16GB model is £399. That is around 20 per cent more than a New York shopper would pay, including the city’s sales tax. The highest-spec model is £659 here including VAT, compared with £554.18 in New York. This means a British consumer will pay £104.82 more than their American counterpart.

Nintendo will be doing something similar. In the UK you can pay £196.99 which is some 20% dearer than the folks in the US who will be able to buy it for around £155.22.

They, Apple & Nintendo, just like many other manufacturers of electronics, clothes and cars charge the UK citizens inflated prices for their goods. They claim that to do business over here it costs them more in employment rates, building rental, taxes and just about every kind of additional logistical charge they can think of.

These claims do not stand up to close scrutiny.

Successive governments have stated that they will look into this blatantly unfair practice.

Successive governments have done nothing.

Now this government is planning to do away with the Office Of Fair Trading. Admittedly they haven’t been of much use in fighting for our rights in this matter. At least they exist and are helping in other areas.