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And about time too. Government seem oblivious to the fact that car drivers are (nearly) all voters.
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I wish they'd launch a "Fair Deal for Pensioners" campaign. A lot of taxes (including motoring taxes) hit pensioners a lot harder than they do working people.
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A lot of taxes (including motoring taxes) hit pensioners a lot harder than they do working people.
Income is what is important. Whether it comes from work or pension is irrelevant. I met an old boss of mine on the train yesterday. He's retired and I bet his pension is more than my salary, and my salary is not at all bad. IIRC around 20% of the working population are working at minimum wage, I bet motoring costs hit them hard.
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It's a fair point and a very reasoned campaign. But whether ANY Government is willing to give 15+ billion back to motorists is a tricky question.
Unless BackRoomers form the British Motorist's Party in time for the next election :-)
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To quote the article : "Critics also note that while Treasury revenue from motorists is nearing £50 billion, the total spending on roads is less than £8 billion."
Does anyone know where someone could get a breakdown of where the remaining £42 billion is spent?!
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"Does anyone know where someone could get a breakdown of where the remaining £42 billion is spent?! "
It just goes into the general tax coffers
but
How about £50 billion to Northern Rock? - so I reckon the Gov needs another £8 billion from motorists to cover that alone.
Won't the £42 billion just about cover the new NHS computer system? Which will never work of course.
Bet the final cost of Olympics will get close to that also - still, should help fulfil the huge desire of Eastenders for a new velodrome and help pay for fencing off those new lanes to whisk Olympic officials in chauffeured limos from their £3000 a night hotels to the Olympic Stadium. Or will you Londoners be forking out for all that from Council Tax?
Cynic? Grumpy? Who me?
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Many of these taxes are supposedly justified by "Climate change" taxation.
However, how much of these taxes go on developing low emissions vehicles and grants to buy them?
PSA have pulled out of developing a diesel electric car as they believe the development costs will make it too expensive to appeal to motorists. Suppose all the European governments offered to pay 50% of the cost of any car able to do 100mpg (for instance) perhaps car companies would think again. The lack of government assistance for this sort of thing makes me think that the climate change arguement for increased fuel duty is rubbish.
As has been said many times, motorists will make their feelings know through the ballot box.
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I'm afraid I can't get worked up about motoring taxes - I'm still incandescent about the loss of the 10p tax rate for the least well-off section of the community. There's no way that Broon will survive for 2 years!
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Mapmaker will be along shortly to "shrug" his shoulders !
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Someone said above: >> But whether ANY Government is willing to give 15+ billion back to motorists is a tricky question. >>
It is, because they'd only spend it and, hey, might stop a recession.
I'm a bit worried this thread is getting too political and not enough motoring. Brrm, brrm. OK?
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I'm not making a political point, but any government which proposes to raise taxes on motoring MUST first make tangible improvements to public transport. The present government has never understood this, and probably never will.
The reason that's not a political point is that the Major government was even worse: they introduced the fuel duty regulator, or whatever it's called, but also made the railway system incomparably worse by separating train and track ownership. That's probably the most stupid piece of legislation I have witnessed in my 59 years.
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Would be interesting to see if the current costs of motoring are in real terms any higher than 10 years or more ago. I remember reading somewhere that the costs of motoring up to about 2 years ago were dropping in real terms (it would explain the sheer no of cars on the road compared to 20 and 30 years ago). I suspect that even though people whinge now things were alot more painful in previous oil price hike periods.
I do wonder if with sustained high oil prices whether it will affect people's choices of where to live/work/shop or better still to get out and walk/cycle to their destinations if within a mile or 2.
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The not higher in real terms argument was on another thread a day or two ago.
Even if it was right, it is still legitimate, in my view at least, to argue that we pay too much to drive about. And lots of what we pay goes in tax. Not oil. Not political. Fact.
I think it's not impossible that the VED hike will be re-thought. Maybe the pigs are preening their feathers, but strange things are happening right now.
Brrm. Brrm.
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A most amusing article.
So from whom should the additional tax not collected through motoring taxes be collected?
Surprisingly that question was not answered. Any sensible suggestions .....
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They shouldn't collect the extra tax, they should reduce welfare to chavs, stop propping up private banks, get rid of all these quangos give the Olympics to Greece etc...
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Dead right. And I can make loads of suggestions about where to raise tax if that's still necessary after Hamsafar's ideas are implemented. But people might say that's too political.
In today's Telegraph I noticed that the campaign only wants the new VED rates revised for cars registered after the 2006 date. I think that's an error. Reduce acroos the board.
Brrm. Brrm.
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