Lewes MP: Road tolls are inevitable

2:05pm Monday 24th September 2012 in News

A transport minister has predicted the end of road tax and the increased use of toll roads as inevitable.

Lewes MP Norman Baker reportedly told the Daily Mail that a national system of road charging for every mile travelled was inevitable.

Mr Baker is reported to have said as motorists moved to greener cars such as electric vehicles, all parties would have to respond in changing the current method of taxation.

As part of the proposals, vehicle excise duty would be abolished and fuel duties lowered.

Comments(14)

NickBrt says...
2:16pm Mon 24 Sep 12

I hope he makes sure his Chauffeur has sufficient quantities of change for the charges when they arrive.

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Phani Tikkala says...
3:01pm Mon 24 Sep 12

Yet another reason why the libdems are going to be wiped out at the next election

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Hoarder12345444 says...
3:39pm Mon 24 Sep 12

Oh shutup Baker you fool. Like it would ever really happen. Don't we pay enough car tax and fuel duty to have the right to be on the roads??? Obviously not. You really are a despicable MP. You live in another universe, on your huge MP salary and expenses its no wonder you want to screw the motorist and every day person, won't affect you will it!!!

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gusset snatcher says...
4:11pm Mon 24 Sep 12

The same idiot that tried to scupper the Amex application, and insists on cycling without a helmet, although that's understandable, his head resembles a giant phallus........ who votes these cretins in?

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Sussex jim says...
4:16pm Mon 24 Sep 12

Hoarder12345444 wrote:
Oh shutup Baker you fool. Like it would ever really happen. Don't we pay enough car tax and fuel duty to have the right to be on the roads??? Obviously not. You really are a despicable MP. You live in another universe, on your huge MP salary and expenses its no wonder you want to screw the motorist and every day person, won't affect you will it!!!
I quite agree. When the expenditure on roads exceeds the tax revenue from road users, there may be a case for to tolls. But for now, when about 80% of taxes collected from motorists goes into the general pot to subsidise railways,buses and daft cycle schemes; also benefits, foreign aid,etc; all road tolls should be abolished .
No more being screwed on the Dartford crossing, or paying to get into Wales.
And long live the Woolwich free ferry!

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ruberducker says...
4:36pm Mon 24 Sep 12

but now our highway's are being flogged to the chinese-they maintain them becuase it belongs to them and then they can charge us for it,in europe you have a peage"the more you use the road the more you pay"no road tax.

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PETE OF QUEENS PARK says...
5:26pm Mon 24 Sep 12

Once again the Lib Dem windbag talks rubbish just like his leader

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Thatsjustyummy says...
6:22pm Mon 24 Sep 12

I thought they'd managed to shut Baker up????

Maybe it was all a dream. Pretty disturbing dream if that moron was in it though.

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nocando says...
6:32pm Mon 24 Sep 12

getting more than sick of being told by politicians about their bright ideas and how I'm going to fund them. The less politicians we have, surely the wealthier the rest of us would be. Here's a great idea to raise public revenue, sack 75% of the oily spendthrifts and their milking departments. This lot can't balance their own books, I'm blasted if I've got to balance them for them before I get a chance to worry about my own.
Savage cuts to political expenditure please. Over priced and bloody useless.

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HJarrs says...
8:58pm Mon 24 Sep 12

The roads are to be privitised, so what do you expect? Still, you won't vote them out!

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Hard times says...
9:17pm Mon 24 Sep 12

Hang on, did the TRANSPORT minister really use the term 'Road Tax'. - Something that was abolished in 1937 by churchill....

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graham_Seagull says...
7:51am Tue 25 Sep 12

Road tolls and congestion charging appears inevitable, he is only telling the truth.

At some point very soon there will be so many cars on the roads, the congestion so bad, that a politician will say;

'if you Mr Average Joe Bloggs can drive your car between these hours of the day and get a lower charge than compared to the current vehicle taxes, and we gurantee you minimal congestion, will you accept it?'

The answer will of course be 'YES PLEASE!!' as it will be the lessor of two evils at that time - the difference between not being able to travel somewhere without a significant delay due to congestion and being asked to pay for a minimal delay.

The only way to avoid that is by getting more people out of their cars, getting them on bikes, getting them on trains. In other words improving all other forms of alternative forms of transport.
Otherwise yes we're doomed to congestion charging and tolls, and all because some short sighted people complained about cycle lanes, and improving train services, and improving bus servcies and so on, because they cant see past the bonnet on the end of their car to where we are 'sleepwalking' to.....

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Tallywhacker says...
2:32pm Tue 25 Sep 12

The roads are not congested. There aren't too many cars on the road it's the times we all choose to travel. I work shifts and 99% of my travel is fine, no traffic no jams. Congestion is an effect not a cause. There is no place in the country where the roads are busy all the time so congested streets is a myth propagated by the government to get more tax. Just charging more does not remove the reason a road is busy in any way at all and until the causes are sorted out at certain times the road will still be busy no matter how much the government takes.

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graham_Seagull says...
4:11pm Tue 25 Sep 12

Tallywhacker wrote:
The roads are not congested. There aren't too many cars on the road it's the times we all choose to travel. I work shifts and 99% of my travel is fine, no traffic no jams. Congestion is an effect not a cause. There is no place in the country where the roads are busy all the time so congested streets is a myth propagated by the government to get more tax. Just charging more does not remove the reason a road is busy in any way at all and until the causes are sorted out at certain times the road will still be busy no matter how much the government takes.
you proved my point, thanks!!!

The roads are congested when the majority of people travel, ergo it is the majority of people who moan the roads are congested, not the minority who have the opportunity to vary their travel times outside of busy periods.

A congestion charge would force people to consider other times to travel, and to consider other means to get to where they need to...thats the point of a congestion charge ;)

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