e-Petition against road charging

[Porker]

As keen drivers, you might want to consider supporting this:

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

It's got about 330,000 signatures already but you can't have too many.

P.

[TripleS]

As keen drivers, you might want to consider supporting this:

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

It's got about 330,000 signatures already but you can't have too many.

P.

Quite right too.

They are all well aware of this over on PistonHeads and SafeSpeed, but what about Traffic Answers. I hope it is being pursued over there as well.

Best wishes all,
Dave.

[nuster100]

Here comes another half-baked labour sceme

Jay

[7db]

Apparently we're all hardliners --

http://driving.timesonline.co.uk/articl ... 90,00.html

[TripleS]

Here comes another half-baked labour scheme

Jay

Half baked it may be, but if this - and future extensions of this principle - were to be imposed on us it would, in my view, be quite intolerable.

This excessive (mis)use of government power should be totally rejected by the electorate as a whole - not just the driving community.

Best wishes all,
Dave.

[TripleS]

Apparently we're all hardliners --

http://driving.timesonline.co.uk/articl ... 90,00.html

About time too.

Best wishes all,
Dave.

[nuster100]

Here comes another half-baked labour scheme

Jay

Half baked it may be, but if this - and future extensions of this principle - were to be imposed on us it would, in my view, be quite intolerable.

This excessive (mis)use of government power should be totally rejected by the electorate as a whole - not just the driving community.

Best wishes all,
Dave.

Hear Hear

[wenlocksimon]

Reading the Times article, I would counter that us in the "driving community" KNOW that it is not govt policy at the moment.

We are merely aware of it's proposal, and are so distinctly uncomfortable with it's implications that we are attempting to "nip it in the bud".

I also take offence at being termed a "hardliner"!

I expect better from The Times in all fairness.

[MGF]

Not a big fan of petitions. Tend to be motivated and surrounded by ignorance and hidden agendas.

From the DfT website:-

"These benefits would be achieved by more than half of traffic paying less than it would otherwise be paying in fuel taxes, and only a small proportion of traffic paying the highest charge levels. This scheme would nevertheless raise considerable revenue - some £9 billion (gross) a year - although the modelling shows that little congestion benefit would be lost if prices were set at levels which did not raise more revenue than would otherwise be raised by fuel taxes."

http://www.dft.gov.uk/stellent/groups/dft_roads/documents/divisionhomepage/029798.hcsp

Although I haven't signed the petition I do have two concerns with the proposed methods of road pricing.

1) My mobile phone network already tracks my movements through its base stations and keeps this data for two years. Road pricing (which will naturally be conducted on behalf of the state) will give the state even more information on my movements. Unexciting as they are I still feel a certain reduction in my freedom to roam my own country.

2) The DfT has made it clear that there doesn't need to be a net tax gain for
most of the benefits of road pricing to be achieved.
But, (Party-Politics aside as we have had 'alternative' forms of taxes imposed on us for nearly 30 years) will any Government be able to resist the opportunity?

[TripleS]

Reading the Times article, I would counter that us in the "driving community" KNOW that it is not govt policy at the moment.

We are merely aware of it's proposal, and are so distinctly uncomfortable with it's implications that we are attempting to "nip it in the bud".

I also take offence at being termed a "hardliner"!

I expect better from The Times in all fairness.

It doesn't bother me in the slightest to be termed a hardliner - not in the face of the increasing amount of control freak nonsense being pursued by this government. The people of this country, especially the driving community, have already put up with far too much of it IMHO.

I don't know why you say it is not government policy. It looks to me as they are minded to impose various things on us, and they are only constrained by the technical and practical aspects of actually doing it, and unless the electorate reject it very firmly, they will do it. To me that makes it look very much like government policy. Of course I might be quite wrong but I don't trust them.

Best wishes all,
Dave.

[TripleS]

Hello Dave (MGF) - I trust you're well.

With respect it sounds as if you ought to be signing the petition. You sound to me as if you have sufficient concerns to make that appropriate, and I hope you will join the 'hardliners'.

It is quite likely that people who are not concerned at the moment may find out in due course that they've let the government put another oner across us, and end up feeling very unhappy about the new regime - when it's too late.

Best wishes all,
Dave.