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Cornerstone: Tory Right Motoring Lobby Don't Count
Or can't count. Triumphant Iain Dale lists some allegations of fleecing of motorists activity over the last ten years. He says costs have gone up by 50% over ten years. This is actually the sort of increase one would expect over a ten year period and is certainly less than the rise in average incomes in the same period.
That several of the "fleecings" related to strict liability offences such as speeding and parking where the law abiding and careful need not pay anything underlines the reducing cost of motoring in the period.
UPDATE: There is a grammatically dodgy petition at number 10 calling on the PM "to Don't Scrap" etc.
10 comments:
Because someone has differing views doesn't make them "far right". I supported the petition and also the anti-vat petition on cycling gear.
This description was of course aimed at the blogging Cornerstone Tories and not at everyone who signed the petition.
Have changed heading as "Far Right" was wrong.
So Chris
Seeing as how you now realise that there are more than two shades of opinion on this argument can I ask you two questions
Would you support a anti congestion petition ???
Do you support the idea that an independent body (like the Bank of England )should be set up to channel all proceeds from petrol taxes, road tax, flight taxes etc into improving our transport infrastructure, bus and train services and funding environmental works etc ???
Congestion charging fears are like the "duck" story
If it looks like a tax, sounds like a tax, and costs like a tax then its a tax
A cycling motorist who wants a solar panel on every roof in Manchester
So, anonymous
I always realised there were shades of opinion. But I think you knew that. Tory Iain Dale rarely does the sums required to support his arguments. That was the point. And motor costs are going down.
1. Yes, I do support anti-congestion petitions and may sign some at No 10 though so far none of those I have signed have enjoyed replies;
2a. No, I don't support 100% hypothecation - not without seeing all the figures and having a sensible plan to replace the funding coming from motor related sources to general pots (including road-related NHS A&E, road policing etc)
2b. Yes, re hypothecation of new quacky taxes.
It seems to me the greater part of the congestion in Manchester OUTSIDE the city centre including at sports venues and shopping centres is caused by private cars, but that apart from some event and venue related effects e.g. at MEN Arena (which is on the ring road and by a good rail/bus/tram exchange the city centre is more plagued with unregulated buses than private cars.
Car parking policy has been helping with that though still no real park and ride ...
There are acres of rooves in Manchester that could have panels and local generation obviously gets rid of the ridiculous distribution losses of the grid - whatever fuels are used.
The plan for variable charging is I think excellent.
Best w
Chris P
Abolish all congestion in the city center in 1 Day
A foolproof system
Ban all parking before say 11.00 - only exception cars with 2 people or more- daily pass issued by parking wardens sited at city entrance points - fee of 50p
Then everyone must use public transport or cycle
But there is no boost to city coffers and there is a loss of street parking revenue
Regulation of the bus network and major investment into Public transport must be put in place before we develop peak time congestion charges. Future revenue streams should be used to extend concessionary fares to young people under 18 (as achieved by Livingston in London). Environmentally friendly vehicle should also be offered concessions.
Good blog Chris.
Mike
Mike
There is one problem with "Public" Transport - The public don't want to use it.
When over 90% of journeys are in cars then they are actually "the public's transport" and buses and trains are really "Minority" Transport
We need to face this fact first.
Only when we are honest with the language can we hope to make progress with our transport
Cyclist/motorist - been years since I was on a bus or a train
For a 50% increase to be expected over a period of 10 years, the average inflation rate over that period would have to be approximately 4%. According to the government's statistaics, it has been considerably lower than that. Average salaries may have gone up faster, but pensions certainly have not - they are still linked to prices, rather than wages.
You may not be aware that the government's transport strategy does not include widespread expansion of rail services, which are already at capacity in many parts of the country. Extensions to various tram systems have also been scrapped. If there's no room on public transport and the low paid and pensioners are be be priced out of their cars, how are people supposed to travel? On foot or by bike? Not much use if you suffer from arthritis, are waiting for a new hip on the NHS (the waiting list is now over 18 months in parts of the country) or need to get to work a long way from home.
Road pricing is another attempt to tax us back to the Middle Ages, with the environment as a convenient excuse.
If the government was serious about the environment, it could just shift the existing burden of tax from fixed costs (road tax, insurance premium tax, parking permits etc) to fuel duty, which encourages motorists to use their cars less and to drive more environmentally friendly cars in the first place. Instead, road pricing will add a whole extra tier of administration meaning that most of the money raised will be wasted on the usual bureaucracy - like the Kengestion charge. The only conceivable reason I can see for doing that is to use the system to keep tabs on the general population, which I don't approve of either.
Anonymous 10:14pm: Wise heads now say Passenger Transport rather than Public Transport. Clearly we need to boost PT use to London levels and beyond. But Mcr is I believe already second city for PT use and it's not all bad news.
Dan Hassett: Thanks for your comprehensive position statement.
It is beyond obvious that Iain's figures include fines and so on and are not therefore typical of the rise for the law abiding or for those who are trading into greener cars.
If 15% of the 50% is down to these things the growth is more like 3% per annum. Much less than income or property wealth inflation.
Including I think for our poorest pensioners and families thank to Minimium Income Guarantee, Family Tax credits etc introduced by Labour.
I have always supported a return of the earnings link for the basic state pension and that too is on the cards.
And we have free pensioner travel by PT ...
Keep your chin up. Things are not desperate.
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