Except it isn't in the news - government is trying to bury this

[Freckle]

Was sent the email copied below. If you care about freedom and want to avoid more Big Brother heavy-handedness from this government, sign the petition.

Apparently there is only one month left to register your objection
to the 'Pay as you go' road tax.

The petition is on the 10 Downing St website but they didn't tell
anybody about it. Therefore at this time only 250,000 people had
signed it so far and 750,000 signatures are required to stop them
introducing it.

Once you've given your details (you don't have to give your full
address, just house number and postcode will do), they will send
you an email with a link in it. Once you click on that link, you'll
have signed the petition.

Democracy in action?
The government's proposal to introduce road pricing will mean you
having to purchase a tracking device for your car and paying a
monthly bill to use it. The tracking device will cost about £200
and in a recent study by the BBC, the lowest monthly bill was £28
for a rural florist and £194 for a delivery driver. A non working
mother who used the car to take the kids to school paid £86 in one
month.

On top of this massive increase in tax, you will be tracked.
Somebody will know where you are at all times. They will also know
how fast you have been going, so even if you accidentally creep
over a speed limit in time you can probably expect a Notice of
Intended Prosecution with your monthly bill.

If you care about our freedom and stopping the constant bashing of the car driver, please sign the petition on No 10's new website
(link below) and pass this on to as many people as possible.

petition
Hope you don't mind me sending it

It's a myth that 1 million signatures will stop it. The government has made several statements acknowledging the existence of the petition, but making clear that proposals for road pricing will go ahead regardless.

And I don't agree that it's not in the news - the campaign has been well publicised in the Daily Telegraph - that's the only one I read cos my Mum gets it & I nick it when she's finished with it!

I suppose road pricing is better than a straightforward tax on mileage as it can be focussed on congested roads.

JanH - I think you'll find it if you go on the Telegraph website

Message withdrawn

how about scrapping Inheritance Tax too?

Originated by the Daily Express - now there's a surprise

Not the Mail, then?

Who cares?

I like the idea that house-price inflation constitutes earned assets - sound Express logic.

I've signed it - I have to drive to get to my patients and I can't see the NHS picking up the tab for this on top of my current mileage. And even if they did - more money draining from the NHS!

I wouldn't be opposed however to having my 'personal' mileage (they could do that y subtracting my work mileage) documented and pay as I go like with my gas meter.

I've signed it - this would be disastrous for us. Our school is 2.5 miles away, so not really walking distance and I can't imagine bus fares at peak times for four of us would be cheap twice a day. That's without adding in after school activities, none of which are in walking distance! We also live three miles away from MIL who we visit regularly. Even if this was in place of road tax, it would crucify us because of necessary journeys.

Can't believe some of those petitions

this is how seriously we expect the Governement to take these petitions, have a look at some of them , for example

this

Just a gimmick by the no 10 , I wouldn't get worked up over it all, sorry but very

oops pressed post by mistake.

One of them says - stop roadworks in lowestoft!

There are also a few other petitions similar to this one which have now closed. So it makes the whole petition thing there whishy washy. This one for example seems a good and fair idea.

Surely This one is a joke.

and This

LOL , shall have a look through the petitions later and have a good old laugh , although some of them are very serious to people. Must get on with getting kids ready for school !

If I thought that this government could bring in a fair road pricing system in the interests of reducing car travel, then I would agree to it.

But they won't/can't. This will end up pricing the poor off the roads, particularly in areas where there is high congestion and a dense population, therefore higher charges(like London).

How will this tackle the massive increases in carbon emissions due to cheap air travel? How does building more airport capacity fit in with these supposedly green credentials?

If I thought they were capable, I might be persuaded. But it will be a dog's breakfast, like every other project this size that is taken on by central government. Witness the fiasco of ID cards and the billions expected to be poured into them.

When I read about this plan, ages ago, they were talking about scrapping road tax and scrapping tax on fuel, and just having road use taxed. Using roads in rush hour in congested places would cost more than using a country road in the middle of the night.

If this was implemented this way, it sounds fair. I'm not sure what they'd do about non-British cars, though.

The charging is NOT the governments solution for the problem of too many cars on the road. Just as speed cameras are NOT the governments solution for speeding. They are the governments way of making more money, wrapped up in shiny paper and seemingly good intentions.

I am all for a different way of charging, but in my opinion, you should get rid of road tax altogether and stick it all on petrol. Therefore, you get charged for what you use. If you drive less, you pay less. That way, you are in control of how much you pay, you don't just get a random bill at the end of the month that you probably can't afford.

It's another example of closing the stable door after the horse has bolted, which this government does all the time. Instead of actually sitting down and looking at the causes of the problem and seeing what we can do to fix it.

There has been talk for years and years of improving public transport, funding alternative fuels, but it's all talk. To "solve" the problem, the answer is always just another tax, charge us more money. Like that solves the problem.

IMO, this is just another way for the government to add in another tax and pretend that they are doing the righ thing.

Agree lazyline. How does this supposed commitment to improved public transport tally with the years and years of inflation busting increases in train fares?

Anyway, I notice the number of people who have signed the petition has raised to 674,000!

I think this is just one more example of the current "big brother" mentality that has infected this government. We already pay waaaay more tax on our cars (and most other things) in this country than in many others across Europe and further afield. We don't need another form of taxation. I live in the countryside nd my car is a lifeline - there is one bus a week that visits my village! With no car, we can't get to a shop, a school, a library, or anywhere else very much. And as for taxi - yeah, there are taxis but they charge about 10 quid for a ten minute journey and you have to book them 48 hours in advance!

Has anybody yet posted a link to / identified what the road pricing proposals actually are (as opposed to what the writers of this email think they are)?

As JanH said (and reading this thread I was surprised no one had mentioned it before) the email is talking complete and utter twaddle about what this petition is and what it's for. So I'm not overly-inclined to assume that it's any more accurate in its description of road pricing.

For the interested, the Department for Transport has a page of links on research into road pricing (including information on their 2003-2004 feasibility study) here (although the links for the Government White Paper response to the feasibility study don't work, but the Government response to the Select Committee report is there, albeit very waffly). And open Department for Transport consultations are here (nothing on road pricing apart from some proposed changes to how the charging at Dartford works, but some of them may be of interest).

I'm all in favour of finding ways to reduce car usem, but this tax will hit people like DW who have NO OPTION but to use the car - she works 30 miles away, usually needs to take a couple of boxes and a laptop, drops DS off at nursery on the way... By public transport it would be impossible. Would probably involve two buses, a train and another two buses the other end.

If anyone suggests "getting a job nearer home" I will probably smack them, as she's been looking for three years to no avail.

Also, let's look at foreign vehicles on our roads. They are not subject to our taxes and sure as hell won't agree to having a tracker device fitted in their vehicles. These vehicles, particularly the transport lorries, contribute hugely to pollution and road use, but are exempt from our laws. They ran an ad hoc check on vehicles coming over the Channel a few months ago. Something like 70% of the foreign lorries were defective in some significant way and their drivers had exceeded the number of hours they are allowed to drive in one go.

Tax on petrol would be one solution - although because fuel is cheaper on the continent anyway, they all fill up there before coming over here, but they can't run on foreign fuel all the time.

I do think they are tackling this from the wrong angle. The main reason that people use their cars is convenience and cost. Let's have some really useful improvements to public transport, with cost brought into line with private transport, and many people would abandon their cars.

I'm also bemused by the idea that charging more for rush-hour journeys is OK. Do they really think that people choose to travel at that time and enjoy the hassle of fighting with traffic, etc.? Most people travel at that time because they have little choice. They have to be at the office by a certain time, or at school, etc. Maybe a radical solution would be to stagger starting times - for offices and schools.

Here here lemonaid.

You can post it seems any petition on the 10 website without having any acurate facts.

Roaduse, pollution is an issue but I dont think its worth getting making this petition something its not, although over 600,000 disagree with me !

Do you really think the Governement would take any notice about it about an on line petition when they din't take any notice of mass demonstrations over war in Iraq ?

To be more accurate too, a computer will 'know' where you are not someone. There aren't enough people to track everyone else. Only if you need to be tracked will you actually be tracked.

I can see the point of the tax but it does feel like the stable door is being shut after the horse has bolted. Much bigger penalties should be directed at the cortps not the consumers.