Survey: How Much Does It Cost To Post A Letter In Your Country?

Greeting card publishers are angry that the mail service here in the UK plans to increase the cost of sending a letter.

First of all, in the UK we have first class and second class stamps. A first class stamp for a letter cost 95p and a second class stamp costs 68p.

The difference in cost is to do with the speed of delivery. If you want the letter to arrive the next day, use a first class stamp. A letter posted with a second class stamp takes two or three days.

On 3rd April, prices will rise. A first class stamp will cost £1.10 and a second class stamp will cost 75p.

Breaking the £1.00 barrier is a disincentive to sending a letter, or a greeting card. The Greeting Card Association writes that

Universal condemnation has greeted Royal Mail’s announcement of an inflation-busting 16% increase in the price of a first-class stamp, smashing through the £1 barrier with a 15p rise to £1.10 from 3 April.
Even the second-class price, capped by regulator Ofcom “to make sure an affordable option is always available”, is rising by over 10% from 68p to 75p – and the timing means the increase comes into force the day before the first King Charles Ill stamps will be released.

How expensive are stamps in the UK compared to other countries?

How expensive are stamps in the UK compared to other countries? That is a question to which I’d like the answer. There are some lists online, but they are patchy. So I am asking you to tell me in the comments what a stamp for a letter costs in your country.

Protesting The Cambridge Congestion Charge

Five thousand people (in a city of 145,000) came out to protest the proposed congestion charge – the cost to bring a car into the city on a weekday. Why the charge? It’s because Cambridge is drowning in its own success. The city is small. It is only a city because of its contribution to the wealth of the country. Cambridge was granted its city charter by the Crown in 1951 in recognition of its history, administrative importance, and economic success.

The protesters feel that the proposed congestion charge is a regressive tax that hits the poorest the hardest.

So what are the alternatives? We have several park and ride car parks outside the city. They take some of the pressure off – witness the fact that they are full of cars in the day – but not enough.

A metro was proposed, but Cambridge is just 16 metres above sea level. And the construction of a metro might damage buildings.

But what prompted me to post this photo is the way people the world over stand around waiting.

What are we?