Government road pricing policy a bad idea
A road pricing petition was set up regarding the government's proposal to introduce road pricing which will mean you having to purchase a tracking device for your car and paying a monthly bill to use it. The tracking device will cost about £200 and in a recent study by the BBC, the lowest monthly bill was £28 for a rural florist and £194 for a delivery driver. A non-working mother who used the car to take the kids to school paid £86 in one month.
On top of this massive increase in tax, you will be tracked. Somebody will know where you are at all times. They will also know how fast you have been going, so even if you accidentally creep over a speed limit in time you can probably expect a Notice of Intended Prosecution with your monthly bill.
A petition with over a million signatures objected to road pricing and now the government is looking for other excuses to try to get round this but trying to pretend it is listening to the motorist.
What is Brown up to with all these extra taxes being dumped on the decent individuals? He has wasted plenty of money on the Iraq war, on the NHS without any improvements so where has all this money gone if services haven’t improved?
It is just another cover up like green taxes so that he can squeeze more off us as well as trying to keep track of us with the Big Brother principle. 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.
It is about time ones like Brown were brought to justice for the negative effects on the lives of decent people even though many less deserving people have done well with more handouts.
Road pricing is a bad idea and the sooner Labour government are out, the better.
By: Constructive On New Services Especially Recognised, Valued And Tested In Very Extreme Situations
Comments from visitors
In Portugal petrol is €1.58 per litre and they have a toll system on all their motorways @ about €1 per 10 kilometres. It makes it one of the most expensive countries in Europe in which to drive a car. Cars cost about 25% more to buy than in Britain
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Rip Off Portugal - 28-Mar-11 20:20
Bring it on !
Get the oiks off my roads.
I can afford it - you lot can catch a bus.
Get the oiks off my roads.
I can afford it - you lot can catch a bus.
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The government is only thinking of all the extra whitehall and local government jobs it can create with this scheme, thats why we still have tax discs instead of extra tax on petrol, to create more red tape and easy jobs for the box tickers, their aim is to make the running of the country as conplicated as possible, to keep usless ass-shining wasterers in well-paid employment, any-body who denys this is just defending the corrupt powers that we have, this country's people should all be living in 4 bedroom detatched houses with two cars with the wife staying at home, but because of all of the hidden taxes, and red tape, and people doing well paid non-jobs,to buy a flat, or starter home, both now have to go to work non stop till they are thirty before they can start a family, this country is so corrupt.....
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Gainsborough lad. - 15-Aug-09 00:07
Road pricing is really a nast idea, brought forward obviously by someone who can afford such luxury. They want all the roads to themselves, because no one on an average wage with a family to keep could not afford such luxury. It would cause huge unemployment because less people would be able to afford to run a car. The public transport services are inadequate and therefore thousands of people would not be able to work. I am sure the people who make these decisions are on footballer's wages. What about the disabled. This idea is pure evil.
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Another example of "Big Brother"and the "Nanny State"
If they want us not to use our cars, let's have a nationalised transport industry, where the greedy shareholder and moguls such as Branson & co cannot extort money on the pretext of making our transport system better.
The railway in particular ,was not great under nationisation,but we could ,at least , afford the fares.
If they want us not to use our cars, let's have a nationalised transport industry, where the greedy shareholder and moguls such as Branson & co cannot extort money on the pretext of making our transport system better.
The railway in particular ,was not great under nationisation,but we could ,at least , afford the fares.
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I've just come back from a six week trip around Eastern Europe where we paid in excess of 250 for tolls/vignettes, compared with the £180 UK road tax.
With so many foreign lorries/vans using our roads, polluting our country etc and many of them bound for Eire so not even benifiting us why is there no charge levied on them?
We are being hit with higher road taxes/VAT and the threat of road charging etc but why are foreign companies getting away with paying nothing?
With so many foreign lorries/vans using our roads, polluting our country etc and many of them bound for Eire so not even benifiting us why is there no charge levied on them?
We are being hit with higher road taxes/VAT and the threat of road charging etc but why are foreign companies getting away with paying nothing?
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The manchester congestion charge, is it a tax on where we live?.Is It a good thing or a bad thing for people who live around the M60? I think the councils are getting greedy just like the government, and where would the money go if and when It does happen? Sorry, but I think this is a tax for the fatcats of manchester council - please have your say...
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Man of the world - 15-Dec-08 09:11
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).
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).
-6
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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).
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).
+2
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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).
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).
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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!!!!!
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!!!!!
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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.
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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?
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?
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'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.
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.
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Truth Teller - 24-May-07 08:15
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.
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.
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malc ex - optomist - 22-Feb-07 19:38
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.
Alledgely only a ridiculously small percentage of the Road Tax is spent on the roads.
Come on Tony, use the money you already have.
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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.
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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.
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.
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The age of irresponsible car use is over. Get used to it. In the US coal-burning power plants are the largest source of carbon dioxide pollution (which causes global warming). Next biggest? The automobile, nearly 1.5 billion tons of CO2 annually. Cars are a polluting luxury, which are destroying the planet. Fact.
And dont give me any of this 'poor housewife having to pay £x more a week'. Like you really care, all you care about is how much is coming out of YOUR bank account.
And dont give me any of this 'poor housewife having to pay £x more a week'. Like you really care, all you care about is how much is coming out of YOUR bank account.
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Perhaps it's time to have an emigration tax then. Other countries have this.
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