Security Theatre Comes at a Price

Quick public service announcement*: you’ve only got a few hours left to register to avoid having to pay £9 every time you want to enter the United States. Yup, even the Visa Waiver programme costs these days. (And even registering to avoid the fee offers but partial relief since in two years time you’ll have to pay anyway.) And why is this happening? Why, because of our old friends in the United States Senate:

The US Senate introduced the charge in an attempt to reverse the declining number of visitors to the country – the majority of the money raised will be used to fund promotion of the US as a holiday destination, but some believe it will in fact put people off travelling there.

Earlier this year, John Bruton, the European Commission’s ambassador to Washington, said the fee would be counter-intuitive.

“Only in Alice in Wonderland could a penalty be seen as promoting the activity on which it is imposed,” he said.