First things first, I’m not one of the anti-Cameron brigade, but I’m also not a Under proposals contained in the Party’s quality of life policy review local councils would be given the power to force out-of-town shopping complexes to charge customers for parking. The reason… to defend the Great British high street.
Correct me if I’m wrong, but doesn’t conservatism have something to do with free-markets, economic liberalism etc? The reality is people choose to shop in out-of-town stores because they’re cheaper. And what’s wrong with that, what entitles a particular type of shop – the high street store – to such blatant economic protectionism.
But fear not, everything is ok, these forced parking charges wouldn’t cost any more than parking in the nearest town centre… right. Applying that logic, why don’t we just force out-of-town stores to put a surcharge on their merchandise to bring out-of-town retail prices to levels comparable to those in the high-street. After all, if the ultimate objective is to create a disincentive for people to shop outside the high street wouldn’t this work much better? But perhaps that’s a step too far for a ‘policy’ that prefers to dip it’s feet into the waters of socialism rather than dive in.
All in all this proposal is such a bad idea that it could lose an election on its own. It must be disowned and disowned fast. It attacks shoppers, and more importantly hits those at the bottom end of the socio-economic spectrum harder than those higher up. And at a time when David Cameron wants to shake off the preconceptions surrounding his life of privilege, he cannot afford to alienate those less fortunate.
Here’s an idea though, rather than creating a new tax why not reduce the tax burden on small business – you know, the ones in the high street – and in doing so help them compete with the big guys?
38 comments:
"Correct me if I’m wrong, but doesn’t conservatism have something to do with free-markets, economic liberalism etc? "
Sometimes yes, sometimes no, hence supoprt in the past for the corn laws and imperial preference.
Anyway, it's a policy commission report, not actual policy. It's doing what it's supposed to-floating radical ideas to see how they will work. It doesn't mean they will be adopted.
I for one welcome the process-it's good to see a policy process that is a considered one.
Uncle Zac will not be pleased....watch out.
Well done on sorting the sig fill out Shane. Now all you need is to get rid of the border ... or colour it white. Dizzy can tell you how.
This, the plans to tax low cost air-travel, the attack on Grammar Schools just show how out of touch Old Etonians are with the rest of Britain- and I thought it was Muchael Foot who wrote the longest suicide note in history-not any more.
James Goldsmith contributed to the massive Conservative defeat in 1997 by putting up Referendum Party Candidates- his son seems to be determined to do the same from within
The future of town centres is an issue hanging over councils up and down the country, including my own Out of town shopping has brought benefits to consumers in many ways, but in others it has had draw backs, which include the effect on small retailers and the vitality of town centres.
There are many people who say town centres have had their day as hubs of retail activity. Social trends and advances in technology have led to changes in the use of town centres and too many are now havens of fast food outlets, discount stores and charity shops. There is little attraction in town centres for people with money to spend - unless you live in a large population area that warrants anchor departments stores and the pull of high quality retailers in their vicinity.
Rather than attack or surcharge out of town shopping centres to level the playing field for town centres, it is time for an examination of what town centres can and should offer to communities in the future, assuming retail is no longer the be all and end all.
Trying to make the large scale retailers less attractive, by forcing them to apply charges that would make using them more expensive, defies reason and punishes success. To me it is unacceptable.
http://winchesterwhisperer.blogspot.com/
Is it just a coincidence that the Whisperer and Dale have decided to go on holiday at the same time ? Or are they fibbing about their locations ?
The News tomorrow:
"Mr Zak Goldsmith has accepted an offer from the Prime Minister to assist the government in formulating new green policies"
Well, I HOPE that is the news tomorrow, with a postscript that Gummer is going along as well.
This is a suicidal report. Designed to keep the conservatives out of power. Cameron should lock himself in a dark room and consider just who is a friend and who is a foe.
As the old adage goes. With friends like these who needs enemies.
The man who stole your old age will be laughing all over his porridge! ..again!
Tosh ! Out of town shopping centres are cheaper because they don't pay the full environmental cost of the land they hoover up, the catastrophe of getting cars to drive out to them, and the lack of efficiency of building 'single-storey' metal boxes.
And often the car parking isn't even multi-storey. I think the sooner Tesco is taxed for the car parking spaces it provides, whilst avoiding 'rent and rates' for the first 5 years of its tenure, the better.
I heard the moronin JS Gummer on the wireless earlier commenting on how this idea would get people "out of their cars and onto public transport"... Apart from the simple fact that an awful lot of places no longer have viable public transport has he ever tried to take the week's shopping for a family on the bus, or has his chauffeur always transported it for him in best Cameronian style?
I truly despair of the Conservatives at the moment, they seem to be doing their level best to ensure that they remain absolutely unelectable.
Tony, I agree with you.But the ones that have caused this are Councils and Central Government forcing them to balance their books by increasing car parking charges year in and year out.
Town and City centres are a nightmare to park in and cost a fortune (especially to mothers with young children and pensioners). Put that against the ease in parking at no cost at the out of town shopping centres. The conservatives would be absolutely mad to even countenance considering this damned stupid report.
Again the middle and lower classes will be penalised. Gummer and Goldsmith live in a different world.....SEND THEM BACK.
"It attacks shoppers, and more importantly hits those at the bottom end of the socio-economic spectrum harder than those higher up. And at a time when David Cameron wants to shake off the preconceptions surrounding his life of privilege, he cannot afford to alienate those less fortunate."
Oh please, what a load of tosh!
I go shopping in the nearest town I park and pay for the privilege, I go to the nearest hospital to visit a sick relative or friend, I park and pay for the privilege.
As for bringing in Cameron's background on this issue, that is just lazy.
here's a leftfield one... what about offering free parking in towns?
We need to drastically cut fuel tax. We simply cannot justify bankrupting families so they can get to work and move their kids around. We need to pledge to cut it 2p every Monday for 15 weeks after we are elected and then another 10p in the Budget. The tax on fuel does not reduce car use, it just increases the amount of the economy taken in tax and slashes the amount of income working people and parents have to spend on essentials. I'm all for cutting oil consumption, but we should not support this disgusting burden on individual finances.
Lets make it clear, Labour and a load of beardy students and Guardian readers want to tax you silly so they can pretend to save the sky. The Conservatives and the Right want to put money in your pockets so you can put food on your table.
Great! The Tories have found a super new wheeze for taxing the middle and working classes to finance more lesbian outreach five a day diversity co-ordination managers. And just when mortgages are going up.
Why don't they just put their heads in a bucket and run around shouting, "We want to lose the next election!"
Frankly DC is a political virgin and he is being screwed . It's all his fault.
As I have said before (yawn!:-), it is suicidal to appoint failed politicians and millionaire's sons (who know nothing of work ), to pontificate on policy.
Naturally these reports as taken as policy.. cos they get all the ppublicity.
The CP is NOT proposing anything ... so why publish the report.
This is sheer political ineptitude... giving GB an own goal.. each week .. pontificating on policies many of which will never be adopted.
I think the CP has totally lost the plot. It certainly has lost the art of proclaiming news that is: thought out and polticially possible.
I thought DC was a good thing. I have changed my mind: he is naive, well intentioned and politically outgunned by GB.
Deserves to lose the next GE: which he will.. if he lets muppets like Zac I've never had to worry about reality in my life so why should you Goldfingersmith produce stoopid reports which piss off the floating voters..
All I know is that muppets producing proposals for more taxes and restrictions on us is NOT what I want to hear.
The best description for all of this is: political suicide.
"hits those at the bottom end of the socio-economic spectrum harder than those higher up" - err, it may be news to you wealthy types but those really at the bottom end of the socio-economic spectrum don't have cars.
There may be good reasons to oppose this idea but please don't try the 'we're only thinking of the poor' line...
Cameron is writing the longest suicide note in history. And the dullest.
hOW WOULD YOU DEFINE A HIGHSTREET SHIOP SO AS TO REDUCE ITS TAX ?
I dealt with the same story a little more kindly , you are not involved in local politics and you would be suporised how much Cobnnservative support there would be for this sort of idea
Bed hopping Zac Goldsmith wants Supermarkets to charge us for Parking .The thinking comes from the constituency surrounding the Communities Bill and I have attended a couple of their meetings in which they roll up a lot of worthy local issues in this case the hollowing our of CBD`s ( Central Business Districts ).They are joined in their stand against slash and burn big business, by disparate groups like local shop owners and CAMRA . All those, in fact, who value commercial heterogeneity at a local level. Nice people and I partly approve.
.Given the parking restrictions driving local shops to bankruptcy, it is silly to talk about the free market. The supermarkets operate as a Cartel against farmers and buy up land so as to thwart proper competition. They use their monopoly status to undercut smaller retailers who provide the sort of cultural capital we should ascribe value to.
The Zacolytes ( Thankyou Lud) , are also to the fore in demanding local people have a greater say in planning decisions. As ancient woodlands and gardens to fall into the gaping maugh of the Mantioch ,big business ,for ordeuve .My approval grows ... I want to like the idea ......
But....and it’s a big but. Here are the pictures in my mind . Harassed wives on a budget crying with frustration that they are forced to add pounds onto their bill so Toff totty can roll up outside the Farmers Pork Pie shop in ? “ The Village” ...of Highgate in a Prius ( Dad has a Range Rover). People who tut at the supposed exploitation of the third world accidentally picking up free trade bananas and dropping them as if they were scalded when they see the price difference. . David Cameron promised green taxes should be, ”or” not ,‘and’ but in this case this “ environmental tax” is said to be ploughed back into Public transport . A bad bad start.
I suspect Supermarkets do use supernormal profits to subsidise Parking then surely this is matter for the Monopoly board and the legislation is already in place. Shouldn`t we look carefully at the way in which monopolistic practices go under the radar whereby they have the spare cash. Supermarkets may be loathed by those with the time and money to source original Orkney Lamb hung in the medieval fashion ,but they are loved by everyone else for delivering us from the disgusting sub quality and over priced produce my mother struggled home from local shops with in the 1970s .
They have scoured the word for Avocado Pears ....Olive Oil. ....sun dried tomatoes humus fetta cheese, yoghurts with no fruit in them (which I thought was the point of yoghurt). Big prawns, John Dorry , Ostrich , Covent garden Soups and . To Zac this may be terribly passé but most if us are still think of Supermarkets as a miracle of global Capitalism.This has all the signs of being an idea with promise not properly thought through. It is half baked and I want it double baked. (Like the twice baked banana cake they do in Tescos ...its lovely try some tomorrow ! )
Honestly, who writes this policy crap. Just give me a pen and paper, and with a couple of weeks of chatting with people who actually know something about town planning I could come up with better proposals than Gummer.
The knives are already being sharpened for the official release of this policy rubbish on Thursday. Cameron can kiss goodbye to those latest promising poll ratings.
I couldn't agree more this post, what a ridiculous idea.
We should be looking at a long term solution for our local high streets not offering protection for their current inefficiencies.
This will have a patchy effect because in my neck of the woods people using supermarkets and out of town shopping complexes already have to pay a fee to park. However, and here's why the scheme will have absolutely no effect, if shoppers spend £5 at a supermarket the fee is knocked off their bill and as for out of town shopping complexes the fee is refunded(you pay as you leave and the retailer gives you a token to exit free of charge) if you spend between £50 - £100 at any of the retail outlets so I don't really think this will save many high street retailers trade at all ultimately because it comes down to choice and price at the end of the day for consumers I'm afraid. I just wonder if any detailed research has been carried out nationwide before this idea was actually muted. On previous track record - probably not !
Cameron should commission a report from Essex man as to his concerns and priorities. Nothing Goldsmith proposes is of the real world. I have just about had my fill of this nonsense. Bloody gimmicks and pandering to Green Godess. Get real Dave.
Out of town parking charges? Oh good. I imagine that in similar vein there might shortly be an announcement of increased taxes on internet shopping on the basis that their delivery vans consume fuel.
At a time when many in this nation are looking for a puff of white smoke from the Conservative's policy chimney, all they do is throw another rubber tyre on the fire. Making it another Goodyear for NuLab.
What about the towns giving free parking not the other way round. He does not want to win the next election.He is a disgrace to the party. If you have not made your mind up I have made up mine
Has he done a deal with Brown?
I have heard that Dave is considering taxing dreams.
Nightmares are tax free but good dreams/happy dreams/wet dreams are taxed. These will be collected by 'Dream Catchers' which will be fitted in every bedroom in the land. 'The dreamcatchers'will transmit the dream to a central bank of dreams where the workers (Daydreamers)will assess the tax for each dream and send out a tax demand.
Money raised from dreams will go towards Daves DreamFactory where he will employ thousands of people coming up with absolutely stupid reports which will keep the Conservatives out of serious politics for ever.
Goldsmith has no idea of real life and Gummer has obviously caught Mad Cow disease.
Mr Cameron says he is a Tory. Has he secreatly joined Brown? I mean, only a nutcase would countenance such a ridiculous 'report'
I hope Gummer and Goldsmith join the Lib Dems! A proper home for the two of them!
Glad to see Dave poured cold water on this idea in his Telegraph Q&A's this afternoon.
The most surprising thing about this post is that you appear to be surprised when really it's no more than part of a pattern. Margaret Thatcher and Blair won massively through targeting the C2s, or in the parlance of a decade ago Modeo Man, and of today, the Morrisons shopper. Dave Snooty and Zak and the rest of the pals are however only interested in demonstrating an overt contempt for the concerns of "the ordinaries" and instead targeting the Waitrose shopper and the Raleigh rider. Gordon you really are a lucky bastard.
You Bloggers are all nutters. The City Centers,High Streets and Villages are dying because the customer cannot get their car in to them cheaply. During this time the OIL BARONS of the 21st Century, ie TESCO,ASDA ETC are laughing all the way to the bank and will take over the country and the Government of it. They are too powerful and need putting in restraint before they achieve full monopoly. I say Gummer is right, TAX them through the CAR and it will bring balance back to the retail market. Afterall much of what they sell is cheap shoddy chinese Tat causing us a balance of Payments problem.
So Dave is frightened already of TESCO.
There is a hilarious take on Dave and Co by Richard Littlejohn here http://www.dailymail.co.uk/pages/live/articles/columnists/columnists.html?in_article_id=481067&in_page_id=1772&in_author_id=322&in_check=N
All you need to know about Cameron is in Peter Hitchens's excellent video expose which, I am sorry to say, is not available on Google Video right now. Cameron cannot save Britain any more than a camel can play Bach.
Boys will be boys, especially rich ones.
I am at the point of despair with the conservatives and, having been a conservative the whole of my adult life, I can't honestly continue to listen to any more of these half brained, ill considered, crazy ideas. Every day they have another new idea generated out of the nuCon "Think Thimble". What is even worse, some silly bugger at CCO can't wait to publicise these idiotic musings as if they're the best idea since the invention of sliced bread. This situation just cannot continue any longer. The current hierarchy, from Dave downwards, is a complete and utter joke. This whole bunch of wasters, for that is what they are, are now bringing daily ridicule on those of us who have worked and supported conservative ideals for years.
Take latest idea of encouraging people back in the town centres by imposing compulsory parking charges on out-of-town shopping centres. As a former councillor I can well remember why shopping centres were built outside of towns. Facts are that there was no space in which to build shops that were commercially viable in town centres without whole scale demolition. The erection of public car parks and the fact that access roads were already overloaded was another problem not easy to resolve without ruining the character of the whole area. Dave and Co don't think like ordinary folk when both partners hold full time jobs just to mark time.I doubt very much that he has ever been near a supermarket, let alone having ever done the shopping. For most people a once weekly shopping trip in the car is the only way a family can retain a slice of sanity and still have some free time in this rush, rush world. Now the clown wants to put another charge on us simply because he has failed once again to think anything through. In a parallel thread here I suggested that he starts things in a strict sequence:-
1) Engage Brain
2) Open mouth!
Perhaps he'd like to think about this - if he's got anything between his ears to think with!
Electoral suicide, bought on the cheap at TESCO!
Thirteen years ago I returned to the UK after many years abroad. My main personal irritant at that ime was the lack of parking for shoppers wanting to use old-fsahioned shops. Often I had to give up the idea of going to a shop for that reason. It is now even worse.
It is no wonder that superstores have taken over.
Waffling about using public transport has no charm for a couple which includes a wife in a wheelchair. I suppose it is not useful for a woman with 3 children either.
This proposal is distinctly contra to the concept of free competition.
Apart from that, if a store owns its own land and the car parking area what right would any authority have to mandate parking charging there?
Victor
I am afraid you are wrong. Conservatism is about conserving the past.
Thatcher sought to roll back to some imagined Victorian heyday and took a lot from the US conservatives where the largely libertarian past created a sort of pro-liberty/liberal agenda in conservatives.
Seeking to preserve the High Street is pure conservatism, Thatcher was good enough to defeat a large part of socialism, now its time to create the static, idealised world of the conservative with traditional values (which are of course mutable for now as tradition changes)
ISTR Karl Popper had some things to say on this sort of conservatism in relation to Plato...
What you want is some liberals. Good luck finding any party which is dominated by them (there are some in the Tories, and some of us in the LibDems).
"Correct me if I’m wrong, but doesn’t conservatism have something to do with free-markets, economic liberalism etc?"
You're wrong. List the things that conservatives exist in order to conserve and, even as you are doing so, you will realise that the "free" market corrodes to nought each and every one of them: national sovereignty, family life, agriculture, manufacturing, small business, civil liberties, law and order, local variation, and on, and on, and on. It is the most anti-conseravtive force on earth.
"Correct me if I’m wrong, but doesn’t conservatism have something to do with free-markets, economic liberalism etc?"
Why allow dynamic social forces to change stuff if we like the way i is already, and was before?
There lies the eternal dividing line...
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