Road-tolls Downing Street Website

[nightshade]

Did you know there is a Downing Street Website where you can sign a petition opposing the intrusive (on your privacy) tracking proposals,and the right of snoopers to stop and examine your car whilst any objections you may have can incur you a fine or fines?

1.2 million people have registered their displeasure at yet another tax on the natives of this island and caused the website to crash

Please make it 2.2million and another crash very soon

[Kymba]

This may cause a bit of controversy.. BUT!.... I think that Road Tolls arent a bad idea in Principle.. Its is just the way they are planning on doing it as an Extra tax that is wrong..
I think they should do away with Road tax completely and then charge you for using the Roads..
My reason for thinking this is That everyone is charged the same Tax no matter how often or how far they drive... Reps , lorry Companies etc use the roads all the time covering hundreds of miles. But a lot of people may only use their car once or twice a week only going small distances most of the time. If they had to pay tolls and possibly higher Fuel prices, they would pay for amount of driving they were doing.... Surely a fairer way of doing it...(PAY FOR WHAT YOU USE)

This is only my view

[batwing]

Make public transport safe, clean, cheap and plentiful first then they can tax car use as much as they like but until then some of us need our cars.

[smartie]

Originally Posted by batwing

Make public transport safe, clean, cheap and plentiful first then they can tax car use as much as they like but until then some of us need our cars.

I agree with this up to a point. It doesn't affect me personally - I have quite good options for public transport, with a station within walking distance. But the thing about pay as you go schemes is that, though they seem on the surface to be "fair", they weigh very heavily on less well off people - particularly in rural areas - who have to use their cars to get to (sometimes remote) work or shops because there is no reliable public transport available to them. You can argue in principle that people should move closer to where they work, but this just isn't practically feasible for many people on restricted incomes. And it isn't easy either to get the local authorities, who are responsible for local transport policy, to do anything to help. I did spend some time a number of years ago trying to get some small minibus-based schemes going in East Anglia, and it was a pretty thankless task.

[James_Owen]

Originally Posted by Kymba

This may cause a bit of controversy.. BUT!.... I think that Road Tolls arent a bad idea in Principle.. Its is just the way they are planning on doing it as an Extra tax that is wrong..
I think they should do away with Road tax completely and then charge you for using the Roads..
My reason for thinking this is That everyone is charged the same Tax no matter how often or how far they drive... Reps , lorry Companies etc use the roads all the time covering hundreds of miles. But a lot of people may only use their car once or twice a week only going small distances most of the time. If they had to pay tolls and possibly higher Fuel prices, they would pay for amount of driving they were doing.... Surely a fairer way of doing it...(PAY FOR WHAT YOU USE)

This is only my view

Agreed, although I think the government could do a lot more to encourage localisation of our lifestyles and work places, rather than building more roads and giving the go ahead for out of town shopping centres, etc.

From a government that's so keen on CCTV and ID cards, privacy issues also concern me. Okay, we're not a totalitarian state yet, but let's not creep toward it.

[Blackdog]

Originally Posted by Kymba

This may cause a bit of controversy.. BUT!.... I think that Road Tolls aren't a bad idea in Principle.. Its is just the way they are planning on doing it as an Extra tax that is wrong..
I think they should do away with Road tax completely and then charge you for using the Roads..
My reason for thinking this is That everyone is charged the same Tax no matter how often or how far they drive... Reps , lorry Companies etc use the roads all the time covering hundreds of miles. But a lot of people may only use their car once or twice a week only going small distances most of the time. If they had to pay tolls and possibly higher Fuel prices, they would pay for amount of driving they were doing.... Surely a fairer way of doing it...(PAY FOR WHAT YOU USE)

This is only my view

I agree with you in principle Kymba, but, at risk of sounding like a NIMBY (not in my back yard), those of us who drive significant mileage in the course of our work would, in some cases, be priced out of existence. We already pay something in the order of 70% of the price of fuel in tax. Figures produced in 2005 shown here: http://www.ukpia.com/Portals/0/Repos...005%20year.pdf
I also have higher servicing costs to pay out

So, really, we do pay for what we use. I own two cars, one is a family estate car which I use for family type stuff and work (I need the space to carry work items), the second is a Smart Car which my partner uses for commuting to work, and we share at weekends. The Smart road fund licence (car tax) is £40 per year based on the new emissions calculations, and we see between 50 and 60 mpg from it. If I could use it for work every day, believe me I would, it's a hoot to drive too

Please don't form the opinion I am shouting you down, I'm just offering an alternative point of view in what can be an emotive topic of conversation

[Boddie]

Why should I pay more road tax than anyone else just because I want to take my car out, even socially, more often?

I already pay well over the national average income tax, for the privilege of having bothered to study hard, apply myself, and get a good job, that pays well, as opposed to drink, get stoned and play Playstation all day.

Because I choose to live in a nice property, as opposed to get my missus pregnant at 16 and get a free property off the council, I pay more than average council tax.

Why should I pay National Insurance? - I have Private Health Care

and on and on and on

This thread is likely to open a can of worms so I think that people should either support, or not, Nightshades propsal, but the thread should not go on, as political threads always end in arguments, as has been proven a dozen times before.

Thanks for bringing this to our attention though Nightshade. I will register my opposition NOW.

[nightshade]

I agree with you Boddie, It is too political can the MODs close the thread please

[glsammy]

It's closed.