Road pricing rears it's ugly head again.

[nedflanders]

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk_politics/6678915 .stm

I can now see where all this government spin on the environment and so called "global warming" is leading to. The government is going to use this as an excuse to justify road pricing! Does this mean that there will be no tax on petrol?
I can see poll tax type riots over this in the future!
What are everyone's opinions on road pricing, the great money spinning myth of global warming and the fact that once again our government has ignored 2 million of its citizens.

[Gromit]

Ther are 60 million citizens in UK so if a couple of million whingers don't like it, well they are in a very small minority. You would never get a riot going because most of 'em are too lazy to even walk to the local shop nevermind demonstrate.

[1rovert]

It seems the 'poor bloody motorist' pays again. But whats with this government? If they loose the motorist, where else are they going to get their monies.
And don't they realise that they are sending traffic down other roads, causing chaos.
They ARE getting like theNazi party. "Don't do this", don't do that.
It seems that the onle people who are free in this country, and getting all the benifits from the work of the British Workers, are the illegal immigrants.
And NO, I AM NOT BNP, but I'm thinking about it.

[youngmafbog]

Well global warming does exist in the fact that the earth is warming but that is nothing new in the history of this planet. A few liberal lefties are infuenzing government agenda's mainly driven by lefty europe.

Of course governments are going to latch onto after all who can argue against supposedly wrecking the planet.

If the Government really thought that global warming was caused by the traveller then they would tax it to stop it. The odd fiver here is simply a stealth tax and anyone who thinks othrewise is a fool.

[youngmafbog]

Actually Gromit this is a country that listens to minorities. So there goes your theory.

[Gromit]

youngmafbog

So are they listening to you? So there goes your counter theory.

[NJOK]

1rovert,

From road pricing to immigration in one post.

Surely that's some kind of record.

[wired]

To youngmafbog,did the goverment take any notice of the anti war protests or of the countryside alliance?
The pay as you go system will make a huge increase in inflation,cost of reps,agents etc, and yet again those who struggle to cope, the young,elderly,infirm ,unemployed , will be the ones to suffer. Without a decent public transport system in place first it would be folly to contemplate these charges.

[jake-the-peg]

Well I'm am surprised that you all know so much about Global warming.Is it the years you've worked on the subject, the high spec computer systems you have of the fact that you watched a 1 hour documentry by a bloke with a dodgy history?

Why don't you write to all those fools at Nasa, and the Royal Institution and tell them how silly they are.

Do you really think that all these emminent scientists don't know that there have been previous cycles?

Or is it all part of a sinister global conspiracy?

I doubt the motives of the Government too on this one, because road pricing is clearly to do with congestion and not global warming.

But to be fair there's not actually anything in that article saying that road pricing is directly aimed at reducing "global warming" is there?

Straw man argument?

[ludwig]

It's a tax, but there's nothing remotely 'stealthy' about it is there. It's a 'right up there in your face' tax.
As a wealthy person I think it's a good thing - it will have the positive effect of clearing some of the lower classes off the motorway so I can roar up and down it in my diesel guzzling 4 x 4 unhindered by the general hoi-poloi and proletariat. Hurrah!

[Whickerman]

why does this surprise you?

[kwicky]

To have road pricing where you are charged for the mile will need an accurate satelite system. The plan was to use the European satelite Galileo but this week has run into funding troubles and may have to be scrapped. All our movements at present can only use the American free to use system but they can pull the plug any time so it cannot be relied on. It probably looks like a crashed landing for this project!

[ruby27]

Road pricing - is this the same as in our past when any road that was half passable with a horse and carriage was subject to tolls paid at various junctures?
Off course if this is the same as road pricing, this was money collected by the Government at the time which strangely was used to support services such as maintenance of roads. Maybe we should do away with taxes stealth or overt and in your face and not bother with any infrastructure. We could all walk over the fields again.
Sorry but how are the roads/motorways supposed to be built and maintained without those who can afford to, by paying?

[ludwig]

Ruby, motorists already pay for the road network through road tax and petrol duty. They're going to squeeze more money out of us, because..well, because they can basically.
Don't believe any guff about congestion or saving the planet - when a tax is imposed it's always about raising revenue. Any other beneficial side effect is purely a bonus.

The road network benefits everyone by the way, it's not just for evil motorists to drive on for the pleasure of polluting the planet, it's also how your cornflakes get to Tesco's.

[naomi24]

Some here don't seem to have actually thought this through. People are fully aware that roads have to be paid for - they don't need to be told that - but the suggested charges for this scheme are extortionate - up to �1.34 a mile. Obviously this will increase the price of everything that's transported by road, including petrol and food - there's no doubt about that. Additionally, public transport is often practically non-existent in rural areas, and those who are obliged to travel 40 or 50 miles during rush hour periods on a motorway to and from their place of work will find the costs insupportable. For me personally, apart from the day to day charges I would incur, it would mean paying in excess of �150 each time I drive to London to take an elderly wheelchair-bound relative for her hospital appointments which I'm sometimes required do twice in one week. That's the reality.

[ludwig]

....exactly Naomi, and as I said in a previous thread on the same topic - what about places like Cornwall. It's totally reliant on tourism, 95% of which arrives by car.
Who is going to pay �350 to drive down to Newquay for a bit of surfing, when you can probably fly to California for the same money.
But sorry, ..I was forgetting, they've taxed flights exorbitantly now too.

[nedflanders]

jake - Heres an equation for you................
global warming = millenium bug = sars outbreak = bird flu = moneymaking myth = government scaremongering

[Leilapups]

If more revenue is needed for maintence development or roads would you be more comfortable with increased taxation on income which is a transparent method of increaing revenue - is it the stealth of the tax people object to recognising they have to pay more

[naomi24]

Gone strangely quiet here hasn't it!

[naomi24]

I live in the country, where public transport is very limited. My nearest shop is 3 miles away, the nearest town 5 miles away, and I've already spoken about my essential journeys to London, so driving for me is not a choice - it's a necessity. It's not the stealth of the tax that worries me so much as the outrageous cost of it. Take my example of someone travelling a hundred miles a day on a motorway at peak times to and from work - and there are plenty who do it. At �1.34 a mile it's going to cost him �134 a day! Five days in a week �670. That's over �38,000 a year - just to go to work! Perhaps the only solution for these people will be to give up work and live on benefits!

Apart from that, I am not happy with the ever-increasing government intrusion into our lives. The new home sellers pack with inspectors checking we have long life lightbulbs, Council workers coming into our homes to take pictures of all rooms in order to assess Council Tax - and watch out for the next spy camera coming to a dustbin near you!

How can anyone defend this idea? It's nothing to do with the environment - it's sheer greed and it's utter madness. This government really is the pits!!

[jump82]

This kind of system's already in place in Singapore. It usually happens in small/tiny countries with a large/growing population that the govt simply cannot cope with the crowdedness and congestion so eventually taxes (on everything) begin to soar.

On a more positive note, look at China, almost everyone on bikes, less pollution and congestion and no silly poll taxes to worry about.