QUENTIN LETTS: The fancy-dress outfitters may have struggled to find robes short enough for his new lordship Sir Sadiq Khan, who is a tiddler

See more Daily Mail on Google - save us as a Preferred Source Published: 14:28 EDT, 15 September 2026 | Updated: 14:32 EDT, 15 September 2026 The task of defending Labour's 'holidays tax' fell to Angela Rayner's sidekick Jim McMahon, local government minister and human punchbag. He preferred to call it 'the visitor levy'.Mr McMahon has more charm than Mrs Rayner but he is less intellectual than his imperatrix. He certainly didn't seem to have thought through the implications of taxing people for overnight stays away from home.The first Labour backbencher to leap to her toes was Emma Lewell (South Shields) and she shredded the policy, arguing that families saved hard for holidays in her constituency and they would no longer visit if costs rose. It was 'the wrong tax at the wrong time' and would tip guest houses into ruin.Mr McMahon, amiably foggy: 'I appreciate the question.'Rachael Maskell (Lab, City of York) wanted any tax from York to stay in the city and not be spent in nearby areas. Alison Hume (Lab, Scarborough & Whitby) hoped that any tax raised in outer Yorkshire would not be spent in York. Mr McMahon, a Lancastrian, tiptoed away from this fight.What about the disabled? Would they have to pay this latest damn tax? What about parents with ill children who had to stay in London while their offspring were treated at Great Ormond Street hospital? And what about boy scouts? Matt Vickers (Con, Stockton West) had just visited his local troop. Would the Boy Scouts have to pay Andy Burnham's tourist tax when they erected their tents on expeditions?Mr McMahon heard such questions with distinct glumness. His right eyelid started to sink. He undertook to 'look at' such possible exemptions. This policy is going to prove an administrative horror.A few Labour backbenchers expressed support. Labour's Cornish contingent, including Redruth's Peregrine Moonshine (a former second-hand car salesman), were all for it, perhaps because their county attracts so many Boden catalogue Tories. Jessica Toale (Lab, Bournemouth W) claimed that her town's hoteliers were eager for the tax. Constituency neighbour Sir Desmond Swayne (Con, New Forest W) was amazed to hear Bournemouth's hospitality sector was 'gagging to pay tax'. Ms Toale winced. Sir Sadiq Khan was introduced into the House of Lords in a ceremony earlier today Local government minister Jim McMahon certainly didn't seem to have thought through the implications of taxing people for overnight stays away from home, writes Quentin LettsThe Lib Dems are seldom averse to tax-and-spend but even they had their doubts. Steve Darling (Torbay) pointed out that although tourism taxes are charged in Spain, Italy and France, those countries had lower VAT rates on hotels. There were repeated demands that the minister should make sure tax money is reserved for tourist facilities. Mr McMahon, who claimed in his Mogadon drone to be 'really excited' about the tax, made no such undertaking. Don't be surprised if it is blown on higher salaries for council flunkeys.But fret not, my lovelies. Sir Sadiq Khan, mayor of London, is in the House of Lords. The ship of state at last has some quality on board.His usual introduction ceremony, complete with ermine and mock-Tudor language, was held with Helena Kennedy and a scruffy Neil Kinnock acting as his supporters. The handsome new Garter King of Arms, James van Someren 'Smokin' Hot' Peill, was also on parade with his little billiard cue to tell them when to bow and scrape.The fancy-dress outfitters may have struggled to find robes quite short enough for his new lordship, who is a tiddler. He had one arm in a sling. All went according to custom, a wigged clerk reciting the usual baloney about how this latest political greaser becoming a life peer was His Majesty's 'right trusty and well-beloved counsellor'. Lord Khan made his oath, pronouncing his surname without the K.Only in the last moments did things unravel. He became a little over-excited, hugging and kissing Labour colleagues such as Lady Smith, Lord Katz, Lady Anderson and former EastEnders actor Lord Cashman. The Lord Speaker, Lord Forsyth, was lucky to escape merely with a handshake rather than a snog.Now that Lord Khan is on the parliamentary teat for life, will he retire from the mayoralty? It has served its purpose for him, if not for poor London.