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At Full Chat

I don't have a problem with the suggestion that we should think about abandoning the present - and hugely profitable - motoring tax system. Neither do I object to the idea that the more a driver uses the roads, the more he or she should pay. It therefore follows that I fully accept Labour's latest proposal. It is, in many respects, fair and reasonable to introduce toll roads which charge high-mileage drivers much more than they're currently paying and their low-mileage counterparts much less.

14th June 2005

But what I do have a problem with is a Government which refuses to be honest about its intentions. This is a massive subject which has the potential to radically alter the everyday lives, liberties, social and work habits and family finances of Mr and Mrs Average in Britain. Only last month there was a General Election. When pleading with us to give it our precious vote, did Labour want to talk about the thorny subject of transport? No. Did it detail what it would do for us if re-elected? No. More significantly, did the party give prospective voters any idea that it's a fan of road tolls and that it may charge drivers up to ΂£1.34 for every mile they drive in future? Not a chance.

Although it proved absurdly difficult to track down, I actually found a copy of Labour's 2005 manifesto. Appallingly cars and road transport occupied one measly paragraph in the 112-page book. To be fair, the document did say: "We will seek political consensus in tackling congestion, including the potential of moving away from the current system of motoring taxation towards a national system of road pricing." But why deliberately leave out the hugely important reference to a specific charge? Put another way, that's a toll fee of up to ΂£93.80 an hour, assuming an average speed of 70mph at ΂£1.34p per mile.

Why is Transport Secretary Alistair Darling going public on this matter so soon after Labour's victory, while steering clear of it pre-election? Anyone with a healthy cynicism and mistrust for politicians already knows the answers to these questions. In the run up to the poll, Labour and Darling didn't want to discuss the likely introduction of their expensive pay-as-you-drive racket because such talk would have lost valuable votes.

As it has proved in the recent past, the Government has had enormous problems administering comparatively simple NHS, Child Support Agency and Inland Revenue computer systems. Just imagine the chaos when satellite technology is brought into the equation to find us, track us and charge us for every mile we drive. On second thoughts, don't imagine it. Fight it. Unless, that is, you want billions of pounds of your money wasted on unnecessary administration, consultants and fat cats. If anyone can run a toll road system, it's the motorists themselves. Hand the network over to us all. We can't possibly do a worse job than recent Transport Secretaries.

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