Saturday, 7 September 2024

It Was Never About The Environment, Was It?



Campaign for Better Transport (CBT) (Ed: this mob) issued the plea ahead of next month's Autumn Budget, claiming it would receive the full support of the public.

Without any evidence for that, of course. It's not like this fakecharity is relying on the public for their money, after all.

In a letter to the Chancellor, It is proposed that drivers of EVs should be charged based on how far they travel. However, it says those who bought battery cars before the implementation date should be exempt from road pricing.

Which shows just what a nonsense the idea is, doesn't it? Either these vehicles are not taxed because they are better for the environment, or they are taxed. An arbitrary cut-off point makes no sense. 

With the Labour government set to bring forward the ban on sales of new petrol and diesel cars to 2030, the public transport charity says this has become an 'urgent issue' and that time is of the essence for ministers to find a solution for EV drivers to help plug the huge loss in road fuel taxation.

I wonder if it's occurred to anyone yet that this black hole will only exist if people buy these wretched things, and so far, they are resisting. as Longrider points out

Pay-per-mile taxation has been put forward by previous administrations but ditched as the scheme was deemed too politically toxic.

But since Starmer's Labour started out toxic, why not try them, eh, Silviya? 

CBT director of policy and campaigns Silviya Barrett said: 'The new Chancellor faces a looming black hole. She can avoid it, in a way which is fair and which garners broad public support. But she should start now, as this issue will only get more pressing.
'It should be cheaper to drive a zero-emission vehicle than a more polluting vehicle, but it's only fair that these drivers should pay a share, and a pay-as-you-drive model can achieve this.'

If only those 14 wasted years of 'Tory' government had done something about the proliferation of these quangos and lobbying groups masquerading as charities... 

8 comments:

Anonymous said...

Because of their greater weight compared to an equivalent ice vehicle ev's cause more damage to the roads. In a fair world they would actually have to pay proportionately more road tax not less

John Tee said...

This pay per mile malarkey: how would they know how many miles you have driven? It wouldn't be by using cameras to track and record your every movement would it?

We already have a pay per mile system in place: fuel duty. The more you drive, the more fuel you use, the more tax you pay. Of course that doesn't work for milk floats, but it would not be difficult to apply a tax to the electricity used by chargers, wherever they may be.

nbc said...

those who bought battery cars before the implementation date should be exempt from road pricing

How long should this exemption last for?

What's the betting that this mob all own one or more EVs?

The Jannie said...

The strange thing is that Liebour and the shouty self-interest rabble fail to grasp that an easy remedy would be to stop pissing OUR money away on fantasy projects and Frankfurt school policies.

Mike said...

We all know that it will cost an arm and a leg to implement this with more government departments/civil servants/hardware/systems/associated budget/managing potential exemptions/etc/etc.

So, to get the same amount of tax revenue (around GBP28bn including VED) we will all have to pay more overall to cover the new expenses and raise the same former revenue.

Nemisis Benn said...

Smart meters would help with that - just about the only good thing taht they can do!

Lord T said...

Lets not forget they will still keep the Car Tax we have now. Just to make sure that they can keep tabs on who has cars and who doesn't.
They are simply thieving scum.
This will take a while to roll out though and will be full of holes. The next Government will be the one that promises to cancel his project which will be them all probably so to differentiate we want one who will promise much more such as jailing these thieves.

JuliaM said...

"In a fair world they would actually have to pay proportionately more road tax...."

If only we lived in one of those.

"how would they know how many miles you have driven? It wouldn't be by using cameras to track and record your every movement would it?"

Well, they have ULEZ and ANPR networks already...

"Smart meters would help with that"

Good point!

"What's the betting that this mob all own one or more EVs?"

They seem the type.

"...an easy remedy would be to stop pissing OUR money away on fantasy projects and Frankfurt school policies."

Well, indeed. That never seems to be on the table as an option.

"We all know that it will cost an arm and a leg to implement this with more government departments/civil servants/hardware/systems/associated budget/managing potential exemptions/etc/etc."

Which for them, would be a plus point!

"They are simply thieving scum."

Spot on!