Road pricing policy a bad idea

I have read the comments on this, and most comments seem to miss the point the point of Road Pricing; this Labour Government has been committed to getting drivers out of their cars as part of the Governments "Green" policies.
BUT, and this is a big BUT, how many people remember one of the first things that the BLiar government did when they got into power ----- THEY CUT ROAD BUILDING projects --- projects planned by the previous Tory government.
Our roads were already overcrowded, and ten years of inaction have brought the country to an almost gridlock situation because of the lack of road improvements in the time this governmet has been in power.
I remember when Vehicle Excise Duty was actually called Road Tax, and the original point of that Tax was to improve roads, but like all taxation, it is corrupted from it's original intended use, and used to fill the coffers of the Chancellor. I have no doubt, that Road Pricing will go the same way as Road Fund Licence.
Be aware though that if Road Pricing is introduced, your every journey can be monitoured, due to the tracking tecnology needed to collect the Tax; Yet more erossion of our "Freedoms(?)".
I also doubt that Road Pricing will reduce traffic unless it is designed to be expensive, and from experience IT WILL become expensive ( the Tolls for crossing the Severn Bridge illustrates this point).

I have read the comments on this, and most comments seem to miss the point the point of Road Pricing; this Labour Government has been committed to getting drivers out of their cars as part of the Governments "Green" policies.
BUT, and this is a big BUT, how many people remember one of the first things that the BLiar government did when they got into power ----- THEY CUT ROAD BUILDING projects --- projects planned by the previous Tory government.
Our roads were already overcrowded, and ten years of inaction have brought the country to an almost gridlock situation because of the lack of road improvements in the time this governmet has been in power.
I remember when Vehicle Excise Duty was actually called Road Tax, and the original point of that Tax was to improve roads, but like all taxation, it is corrupted from it's original intended use, and used to fill the coffers of the Chancellor. I have no doubt, that Road Pricing will go the same way as Road Fund Licence.
Be aware though that if Road Pricing is introduced, your every journey can be monitoured, due to the tracking tecnology needed to collect the Tax; Yet more erossion of our "Freedoms(?)".
I also doubt that Road Pricing will reduce traffic unless it is designed to be expensive, and from experience IT WILL become expensive ( the Tolls for crossing the Severn Bridge illustrates this point).

I have read the comments on this, and most comments seem to miss the point the point of Road Pricing; this Labour Government has been committed to getting drivers out of their cars as part of the Governments "Green" policies.
BUT, and this is a big BUT, how many people remember one of the first things that the BLiar government did when they got into power ----- THEY CUT ROAD BUILDING projects --- projects planned by the previous Tory government.
Our roads were already overcrowded, and ten years of inaction have brought the country to an almost gridlock situation because of the lack of road improvements in the time this governmet has been in power.
I remember when Vehicle Excise Duty was actually called Road Tax, and the original point of that Tax was to improve roads, but like all taxation, it is corrupted from it's original intended use, and used to fill the coffers of the Chancellor. I have no doubt, that Road Pricing will go the same way as Road Fund Licence.
Be aware though that if Road Pricing is introduced, your every journey can be monitoured, due to the tracking tecnology needed to collect the Tax; Yet more erossion of our "Freedoms(?)".
I also doubt that Road Pricing will reduce traffic unless it is designed to be expensive, and from experience IT WILL become expensive ( the Tolls for crossing the Severn Bridge illustrates this point).

Why dont people get it?????? DONT VOTE LABOUR

why????

under this govt the population of UK has grown by over 15million and even then 10 million of these are non-british people

because of this cars have increased and now the govt wants to make us pay for using roads to reduce congestion

what a bunch of hypocrites the LABOUR party are yet the british public do not nothing but vote them back in!!!!!

Road pricing is being brought in to fund Galileo, the European Satellite network. The government have already agreed to do it so its going to happen.

I'd just like to add that alot of people are missing the point of road pricing. The need to cut congestion is not the real issue, or at least the reason why the government wants to introduce it.

The government is pushing the car industry and its customers (us) hard in the direction of low emmissions high mpg (miles per gallon) cars. In a matter of 10-20 years most of us will be driving either highly efficent, low fuel consumption, combustion engined cars; or hybrids/electric cars. This will mean a massive decrease in the demand for fuel, which is a major source of tax income for the government.

This will mean less money for public spending, which under the Labour government will make them look bad. They know they cant just increase road tax in the obvious way because people wont like that, they may loose support. So the issue of congestion is a neat way of increaseing the tax we pay with out an obvious tax increase.

The simple fact is everyone will pay more for transport if this goes ahead. Even the supporters who dont drive will have to pay extra, throught their taxi fairs. And do you think the train/bus companies wont see the opportunity and increse prices, when they realise people are increasingly turning to the trains/busses?

'It would be nice if all MPs could be fitted with a device which kept track of everything they did so that the British public could see what their interests were and why certain policies were being implemented for the personal gain of the MPs backing these proposals. I bet the MPs would have too much to hide so in the interest of the British public there is more of a requirement to fit MPs with devices than Mr. Average to get penalised for doing 31mph in a 30mph zone.'

On that note MPs are now trying to limit the freedom of information act and have voted against measures to make their salaries and expenses more public. It seems they dont like being watched either.

Great, no yearly road tax, I can pay as I go, how thoughtful of the Government to take away this once a year payment and allow me to pay as I go along (probably several times as much though) but still very thoughtful, it will certainly bring in more funds to the Treasury which shall allow teh Chancellor to free funding for the regeneration of rural train lines,and free up the roads to allow buses to move more quickly and freely, one problem with that though is we have to get into a town to catch a bus to get us to work and as they only run once every two hours in rural areas we are scuppered.

Ah but, it isn't the rural areas which have problems and so it will be cheaper to drive on our roads and so I ask the question if it is in towns and cities where we have the problem then first of all show us - the general public - that the Government is serious about us using public transport by investing in the improvement of these services and we shall accept their plans.

If the Government is serious about these plans why not improve public transport and implement maximum charges for distance travelled which we have to pay by these now private consortiums as we the majority who earn the minimum wage or just above just can't afford peak time prices which is the time we would have to travel to get to work on time.

But don't forget, once we start using these services there will be a need to implement new measures to curb the exhaust fumes and will have a fuel tax levy applied to all bus and train tickets - be warned they will have our money one way or another and we might as well let them have it now as keep them thinking of more ways to fleece us.

I have just received my reply e-mail from Number 10 Downing Street, regarding the Road Pricing protest. There is no mention anywhere as to the Road Tax that we already pay! Surely if the Road Tax was actually spent on Road issues would we actually need a new 'Stealth Tax?'
Alledgely only a ridiculously small percentage of the Road Tax is spent on the roads.
Come on Tony, use the money you already have.

In case anybody is wondering what the post below has got to do with road pricing, I would like to point out that it will go ahead without our wanting it. Against our wishes. We will not get a choice.

If we look at this issue on a broader spectrum we can only arrive at one conclusion.
WE LIVE IN A COVERT DICTATORSHIP.
Our leader and his associated cronies would have us believe that we live in a democracy but this is only true every four years or so. At that time we get to choose who we want to be dictator for the next four years.Our government needs to understand this.... We elect them to run this country for the mutual and exclusive benefit of those that (legally) live in it. We ask them to REPESENT US on the world stage and domestically. By very definition they should not introduce any policy that does not represent the wishes of the majority of British people.
We have to be sensible and accept that they cannot hold a referendum on every decision they take, but major policy such as this should be subjected to a democratic process of choice.

Take note Mr Blair.... You and your policies are creating a society that is rapidly approaching revolution. We in this country are tired of being excessively taxed, we are tired of having our way of life compromised to accomodate others and we are tired of having our opinions disregarded in order that you can progress your own agenda to become our first president!

It is openly spoken that Blair is afraid that his legacy will be Iraq. Let's hope that his legacy is Iraq and not 'the man that got the BNP elected to government'.

OK, I run a small family car, its very fuel efficient, very low on emissions, cheap insurance & cheap tax.
I bought it because of all the above benefits, however I have to drive it 14 miles per day to get to work. So simple maths 14 x 5 x 52 = 3640 miles per year for work purpose.
Oh look Im gonna get taxed AGAIN on that mileage yippee more money to find.

Then I have to go to the supermarket for the weekly shop more mileage.....Yippee more tax....

Oh almost forgot got to drive to my parents 40 miles away to make sure there well, and warm and got everything they need......Yippee more tax....

Cant afford to drive to the petrol station cos of all the tax im paying so the car will have to stay on the drive,
Cant get to work as run out of petrol & public transport doesnt run that way.
Cant get to the supermarket for food.
Cant get to see parents so they go cold & hungry.

Simple maths....cant get to work=no wages=get into debt=house repossessed=homeless
more maths.......cant get to supermarket=go hungry=eat s**t food=bad health=strain on NHS
& more..............cant get to see parents (who worked hard all there life to provide for me) =bad relationship=upset family=domestic rows=disfunctional family

Think the maths dont quite add up to what the governmant want.