So Tony Blair says road pricing will not be a stealth tax. Maybe he had better have a word with his Chancellor, who seems addicted to stealth taxes like airport passenger duty which he makes out will save the environment, but in reality will save not a single tree.
23 comments:
Taxes were *much* higher under Thatcher.
http://www.hm-treasury.gov.uk./economic_data_and_tools/finance_spending_statistics/pubsec_finance/psf_statistics.cfm
In the last year pump prices have ranged from about 85p to £1.05 a litre. I haven't noticed people using their cars any more now it is 85p than when it was over a pound.
So why are we supposed to believe that slapping this new tax on driving will make any difference (apart from to Brown's spending black hole)?
But it may allow Brown to pay his tailor to deepen his pockets.
conveniently, you seem to have forgotten that it was the last tory government which introduced air passenger duty...and then doubled it the following year.
Road pricing won't be a stealth tax. It is bloody obvious and in your face - nothing stealthy at all.
Good picture
Iain, you're blog posts are increasingly becoming cheap, lets have a bit of meat behind what you say... what alternatives would you like to see, indeed, what should the tories introduce?
Instead of cheap attacks, some substance please?
"In the last year pump prices have ranged from about 85p to £1.05 a litre. I haven't noticed people using their cars any more now it is 85p than when it was over a pound."
I seem to recall the top dog of Shell or BP being interviewed during the fuel protest hoo-haa and saying that, from the oil co data, the price of fuel made no difference to people's driving habits.
Perhaps we just buy cars with smaller engines?
by Mike Snyder:
ICM still hasn't posted topline from Feb Guardian poll. But results of their January survey for the paper show that Conservatives have but a slight edge over Labour on "taxation & public services" while Labour enjoys a minor lead on "the economy generally".
So will the "tax & spend" cudgel be any/much more effective for Cameron versus Brown at the next general election, than it was for Howard versus Blair in the last one?
My own guess that it DOES help DC with the Conservative Homeys nipping at his heels . . .
As you correctly discern, there is now a depressing trend of taxes that are supposed to do us some good, but in fact are just more taxes.
First the air passenger tax and now road taxes. What next...mobile phone taxes to protect our ears from harm?
The ploy is so blatantly a ploy that it really stands as another insult to the taxpayer. I am not a Cameron fan by any means, or really a Conservative, but I am prepared to vote Tory if it means getting rid of this bunch of scammers.
I can remember when Blair got in. I voted Labour. I can remember how we were tired of the Tories and fed up with sleaze and we wanted a change. What I feel now - total and utter disgust, an overwhelming revulsion for this administration - is in a completely different league. I feel we have been shafted by Labour. I am angry.
With with Tories, for me it was "fed up" and "tired of", with Labour it is revolted and sickened and ashamed.
No problem for Gordo as Dave is pledged to the same spend.
Time for some alterntive tax plans-if not from the Cons. then...............!
gammarama said...
Ian...what alternatives would you like to see?
My view is that we do have clear, viable alternatives:
Referendum on whether we introduce:
1. Road pricing and vehicle
tracking
2. Bussing children into school
and/or
3. Staggered schools hours
4. All areas around schools to
become no parking zones with
huge sums charged for parking
at or near schools - teachers
and those with disabilities
exempted.
4. Increased petrol tax
5. No tracking of citizens -
politicians tracked and bugged
instead, as, Iain & Boris
aside, the rotters cannot be
trusted :)
Auntie Flo'
Forgot to add to my referendum list:
5. Maintain current level of
migration to UK
6. Reduce level of migration to UK
7. Stay in EU
8. Withdraw from EU
Auntie Flo'
Heres a test for Eco loons like Norris and Cameron.
Ask them what proportion of any money gained though road pricing and £3000 per year company car park taxes, is going to be spent on trying to remove "excess," "world destroying," CO2 from the enviroment.
After all we have, as "experts" say, up to one hundred years to work on it.
If our governments in the 19th centuary had taxed human waste products, instead of building a better sewage system. I think our more intelligent forefathers would have smelled more then a few rats.
Then come to the conclusion that the bastards, did not intend to do anything about the problem. Or that they did not really think their was a problem. Or that the government simply just wanted more of their money.
If CO2 really is such a danger and governemts and scientists are so convinced of their man made CO2 = Globle warming apocalipse theory.
Why do they not committ themselves to a technological solution, instead of compleatly non effective and extortionate "poll" taxes?
Norris should stick to talking about the dirty enviroment us Londoners have to work in every day. Instead of silly populist non-proven CO2 theories.
gary powell - i hate to be the one to point it out, but you might have more chance of people taking your points seriously if you learnt to spell..
"Globle warming apocalipse theory."
Somebody said people like the Chancellor to either be a bookie or an undertaker ... but I don't they like either to be a PM
Somebody said people like the Chancellor to either be a bookie or an undertaker ... but I don't they like either to be a PM
Road pricing is included in policy T3 of the draft East of England Plan that completes consultation on March 9th.
It may not be a stealth tax but it is being introduced by stealth
anon. 11.47
Some of the things garrypowell says , like 'if our governments in the 19th centuary had taxed human waste products, instead of building a better sewage system...' are clever, revealing examples; do we care that much about spelling conformity when meaning is so well served?
Brown brought airport taxes back to what they were when he got there. This was the very least he could do in the way of "Green taxes" when he was under pressure not only for environmentalist nuts like Miliband but also from Cameron.
I don't think he believes in the warming scare which will cause Cameron increasing problems as the temperature stubbornly continues to refuse to rise.
Do the English realise that it will only be the English who have to live with road pricing - Scotland and Wales are set to reject road pricing as confirmed by their MSPs and AMs in recent articles in their national dailies.
Easy enough for the Scots and Welsh to reject unpopular legislation as they have their own Parliaments. Not so easy for the English to reject unpopular legislation as we don't have owr own Parliament - we have a British Parliament which will have MPs from Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland voting on road pricing for England when they know full well the same road pricing will be rejected in their own countries.
Deja Vu university top up tuition fees for the English. This would have been rejected if Nu McLabour hadn't used their Scottish MPs votes to drive thru this legislation on the English
England is worse than a banana republic !
It's about time England ran it's own affairs.
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