UK: 'Tax 4x4 owners up to £2,500'(LibDems want tax partly to fund handout for 'green' car buyers)

The Sun (U.K.) ^ | September 16, 2008 | CLODAGH HARTLEY

[Stoat]

 

'Tax 4x4 owners up to £2,500'

 

 

Bill ... Norman Baker wants tax hike for gas guzzlers

 

 

By CLODAGH HARTLEY
Consumer Affairs Correspondent

Published: Today

 

 

 

DRIVERS of big gas guzzlers should be forced to pay huge road taxes of up to £2,500 a year, the Liberal Democrats said today.

Transport spokesman Norman Baker wants to use the cash to fund £1,000 handouts to those who buy "green" cars.

But for those who drive 4x4's and other large family cars – a showroom tax of £500, alongside £2,000 a year Vehicle Excise Duty would be imposed.

The party would create a new Band M for the likes of some Range Rover and Toyota Land Cruiser models with emissions of over 255g per CO2/km.

This is more than DOUBLE the government's proposal of a showroom tax and VED included at £950 from April 2010.

It comes the day after Lib Dem Treasury spokesman Vince Cable mooted the idea of hitting motorists with an extra 20p in tax on a litre of petrol.

Mr Baker will outline his plan at the Lib Dem's annual rally in Bournemouth.

He will insist: "The Liberal Democrats are the only party with a serious plan to tackle the major challenges our transport system faces."

The Lib Dems are committed to £8billion of green taxes to part fund a 4p cut in the basic rate of tax.

But the proposals were blasted by motoring groups as unworkable.

Paul Watters of the AA said the move would go against families and those who need large cars.

[Stoat]

XE.com Conversion - 2,500.00 GBP to USD

Live rates at 2008.09.16 18:08:18 UTC
2,500.00 GBP	=	4,463.80 USD
United Kingdom Pounds		United States Dollars
1 GBP = 1.78552 USD		1 USD = 0.560061 GBP

 

Also: (Article not posted due to Free Republic rules pertaining to posts from The Guardian.)

Lib Dems back road-pricing despite fears of 'poll tax on wheels' accusations Politics guardian.co.uk

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Stoat comment:

So often we Yanks can look across the Pond to see our own future if the Left is allowed to gain more power here in the USA.

I've been given no indication that B. Hussein 0bama would oppose a tax like this...how would he justify any opposition of it to his hard-Left constituency?

Aside from providing another revenue stream for Government, it does several things for the Left, among them:

• It soaks "The Rich", which has always been a favorite ideologically-driven pastime of Socialists
• It embraces the hysteria-driven religious fiction of man-made "Global Warming", which will be sincerely appreciated by the Left.
• It makes having a big family even more problematic, as transportation will become more difficult for them.
• It makes living in rural areas more troublesome and expensive, and so encourages people to live near metro areas and cities where the Left is more apt to hold sway.
• Keeping high populations in big cities places greater strains upon city infrastructures and services, which provides justification for even more tax hikes.
• When Left-wing "scientists" announce that "man-made global warming" is still a crisis and even more severe measures need to be taken to combat it, it will be that much easier to raise the taxes even higher or ban larger cars entirely, moving society ever closer to the Socialist Utopia of everyone (except politicians of course) traveling via bicycle or public transport and forced to live near Government centers where their activities can be most effectively monitored and regulated.

[WayneS]

“God Save the Queen it’s a fascist regime...”

—Johnny Rotten

[agere_contra]

Thank God. The Libs will lose seats at the next General Election, because they unwisely believe that being to the left of Nu-Labour is the route to power.

[Stoat]

Thank God. The Libs will lose seats at the next General Election, because they unwisely believe that being to the left of Nu-Labour is the route to power.

Thanks very much for your insightful and optimistic view....I sincerely hope that it comes to pass as you say!

There have been a number of recent events which give me great hope for a brighter future for the people of Great Britain, among them:

Ken's partner axed as Boris Johnson purges City Hall 'wimmin'(London Mayor Update)

(Socialist purge!)

UK It will be OK to bash a burglar (Victims will now be allowed to defend themselves...to a degree)

UK New law to back 'have-a-go-heroes' (Justice Secretary says it'll be okay to tackle thugs)

Cameron hails by-election victory (MORE great news for Conservatives in the UK)

(BNP thrashes Labour in recent election)

 

In addition, it may only be my wishful thinking but I seem to be seeing a greater number of anti-Labour and more pro-Conservative reader comments after online news articles from the UK over the course of the past year.  My great hope is that this is an indicator of a real voting shift.

[sinsofsolarempirefan]

The Lib-Dems are completely irrelevent at a national level. The Lib-Dems only win by-elections and council elections. At the national level, Britain is effectively a two-party state between Labour and Conservative.
Anything the lib-dems have to say is purely hypothetical and they will never be given the opportunity to implement it....