Abolish road tax and charge the polluters, Darling
11 February 2008
The Green Party's Principal Speaker, Caroline Lucas MEP has today urged the government to reward responsible motorists by abolishing the Road Tax, and shifting the responsibility onto gas-guzzlers through the fuel duty. The call comes as road lobbyists meet with the Chancellor to plead for a smaller increase in fuel tax.
Dr Lucas said:
"The flat road tax on vehicle ownership takes no account of road usage, and provides no incentive or reward for making less polluting travel choices. A far fairer alternative would be to scrap it and move the responsibility onto fuel tax.
"But today we see the road lobby arguing against this fairer measure. The AA has consistently argued for more roadbuilding, more traffic, more pollution. They have attempted to block every effort to reduce our dependency on petrol. Now the price has inevitably risen, and they want the rest of us to pay for it through our taxes, or in cuts to services.
"Most car owners would like to take more public transport, but some lobbyists seem determined to make it as hard for them as possible. Does Alasdair Darling have the guts to stand up to them?"
