Is the proposed road tax a threat to racing?

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Sara

At the Start
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I just got the following email from David Redvers and I'm passing it on, using this thread as I think this tax is a huge threat not just to race-going but in the not-so-long-term to racing itself. I certainly won't be able to go racing much at all, if this becomes law. In fact I won't be able to afford to run a car, and might as well slit my wrists as I'd be stuck at home in the middle of the Suffolk fields.



<< Sign and pass it on. it only takes a minute.

The government's proposal to introduce road pricing 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 Mum 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 you
can expect a NIP with your monthly bill.

If you care about our freedoms and stopping the constant bashing of
the car driver, please sign the petition on No 10's new website


http://petitions.pm.gov.uk/traveltax/

Please pass this on to anyone who owns a car/motorcycle. It affects them. >>
 
Is this sponsored by Shell or BP?

I fully support taxation that penalises people who pollute the environment.

I am sorry if this would make your life a little harder Headstrong, but unless we want to see meltdown, then we are all going to have accept that travel is going to get more expensive.
 
But I pay tax for my car every year plus an extortionate amount of tax each time I fill it up, not to mention tax on the money earnt to pay for these things, is it really necessary to tax me yet again?
 
There is a lot of propaganda being fed about the proposal - for it is just that - some of which is based on fact and some on fantasy.

Unless you are a global warming denier - and we have our share - it's hard to argue with any intention to curb or modify the emissions caused by the internal combustion engine. My son has just changed his Saab to a Prius and will save around 50% of his annual fuel bill, have an annual road fund licence of £63, pay about one-third of the usual residents' parking fee in Putney and be able to travel free of charge throughout Ken's congestion charge zone (a concession that helps to give the lie to allegations that it was created to grab money rather than to improve the environment).

As for an end to racing, I think not. We have endured massive hikes in petrol prices caused by three day wars, six day wars, indeed wars of all sorts of duration - not to mention the greed of oil producers, refiners, wholesalers, retailers and most of all the revenue men. We have dealt wth shortages, petrol coupons, tanker drivers' strikes, three-day weeks and embargoes.

All three major parties in the UK have taxation plans to reduce the pollution caused by petrol and diesel engined vehicles so even if I believed that it was right to sign this petition, which, by the way, has more han one thread on here, I would feel it to be a waste of time as whoever is in power will act to reduce carbon emissions - and, in my opinion, rightly and necessarily. And for those who like to make party political points, it's possible that "Call me Dave's" plans could be the most radical - and expensive for the motorist.
 
Originally posted by Griffin@Jan 4 2007, 02:01 PM
But I pay tax for my car every year plus an extortionate amount of tax each time I fill it up, not to mention tax on the money earnt to pay for these things, is it really necessary to tax me yet again?
Click to expand...
Given the amount of people who drive, the answer is yes.
 
14% of CO2 emissions from Transport. I believe about 2% (14%) is from Aeroplanes. I wonder what proportion comes from private cars and what that proportion will be reduced to as a result of these proposals. Given the new env-friendly methods of vehicular propulsion that I expect to be commonpalce relatively soon, I suspect the different to the environment will be negligable compared to the difference in the Treasury coffers.
 
Originally posted by betsmate@Jan 4 2007, 02:05 PM
Given the new env-friendly methods of vehicular propulsion that I expect to be commonpalce relatively soon
Click to expand...
Such vehicles will have big concessions - see my post above about Ken and the congestion zone.
 
Our posts crossed Brian. Will there be a significant difference in the cost of motoring under the proposed Road Pricing scheme though?

My guess (and that is all it is) is that the cost of motoring will still be higher even after individuals have responded and made the changes.

Lets face it, this government does not have a particularly good track record when it comes to stealth-taxing.
 
Originally posted by Bar the Bull@Jan 4 2007, 01:50 PM
I agree. An absolutely brilliant tax. And I own a car.
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Mmm kind of agree, just the thing about tracking one`s speed bothers me.

If this gets rid of a lot of lorry/van driver`s and mother`s taking their kids to and from school (wtf is all that about??) then i`m heartily in favour of it.
 
I can't help feeling that this a political point, especially as there's an invitation to sign a petition tenuously being presented as a threat to racing so as to include in the racing section?

It'd be a brave government that did it, and I'd be surprised if anyone would risk the electoral back lash. Much more tactically prudent to try and introduce regional conjestion charges and put the blame on the Local Authority newtwork, who after central government have starved them of support finance, would be forced into collecting it by way of compensation, ans so make them appear the baddies.

Political parties of all persusions might be advised to study the result of a local referendum on the subject that Edinburgh conducted about a year ago. People are very good at giving one reply to opinion pollsters, and then voting differently when asked the question for real.
 
No wonder we have a tax everything government when we have people on here saying it is a great tax.
What utter cobblers!
This global warming issue has just given this government an excuse to create tax after tax after tax, and claim it has to be done to save the enviroment.
If you want to save the enviroment then you should be looking at places like the US, China, India, and other countries far bigger than ours.
Would the yanks accept a tax for every mile they drive?
Would they bollocks.
 
And don't think you need a car to have your movements tracked either.

What do you think an oyster card is for? and why are the government blackmailing people in to having one?
 
Originally posted by Bar the Bull@Jan 4 2007, 02:46 PM
Feck racing. The environment is far more important.

Racing will adapt. Unfortunately, the environment won't.
Click to expand...
I agree. I find the 'petition' offensive.
 
Oh shit.. and they probably implanted a chip into my femoral nail when I broke my leg !!

.....

But you are also quite correct in that the government know full well that increasing the cost of driving will not make a blind bit of difference to the number of cars on the road or the time spent driving them to this lard-arsed lazy population. The act of being a lazy bastard is as addictive as cigarettes , and who stopped smoking them with every price rise ?
 
Oh well, I may as well hand my licence in now - if they track my speed I won't last a week without losing it!

I don't actually like the idea of the proposal - there are better ways of doing it IMO. I'm quite happy to pay more though and am a big fan of introducing tolls on motorways. Introducing chips smacks a little too much of big brother to me and yes, I do object to having my whereabouts and more importantly speed, monitored!
 
Toughen up on the testing procedures, re-test the old and stupid that currently hold licences and gradually reduce the number of licences held.
 
I’m not sure this tax has much to do with the environment. In fact, The Environment Agency's Nick Rijke warned that shifting money away from fuel duty would take away the incentive for people to use green vehicles. For environmental reasons alone you could oppose this proposal.

It has been hailed as the world's most advanced road pricing scheme but political and technical difficulties will be the issue.

A poll-tax style revolt is predicted: “Governments will upset at their peril society’s wish to do what it wants to do and that is to move around,” according to Professor Garel Rhys, director of the Centre for Automotive Industry Research at Cardiff University's business school.
 
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