Thank you for your email and I have received a good number on this
topic. That does not surprise me in the least as I represent a rural
constituency where car usage is higher than elsewhere simply because of the
rural area we live in.
Further because we still lag behind in terms of the wages earned
compared with other more prosperous parts of the country our car pool tends to
be older and often more polluting than newer more expensive models which are
out of reach of modest wage earners. These things concern me greatly already so
the prospect of any further move to make life more difficult or expensive
causes me alarm.
Fuel duties and car taxation are high, although comparisons to other
countries are difficult as other taxes here are lower. The UK remains one of
the lowest overall tax raising thresholds in Europe.
The UK, a world leading developer and manufacturer of ultra clean
vehicles is already seeing a huge uplift in the sale of these vehicles. The
switch to them is happening at a pace no one could have predicted even a year
or so ago. They of course have very low running and taxing costs and as the
switch gathers pace the real debate will be on how the government of the day
maintains its’ revenue streams. New techniques technologies must be adopted whilst
at the same time not hitting traditional transport with extra costs.
We all want to look after the environment and breath clean air wherever
we live or work and there are legal obligations on the UK government to achieve
that. So it is a problem to be tackled but in a fair and balanced way.
I note the dates of the three forthcoming meetings but with my diary
already oversubscribed between now and the summer recess I will struggle to get
to any of the meetings. However I do have on my staff an assistant who has been
interested in transport matters for many years and if at all possible I will
see if we can get him along so he can report back.
It is a real hot topic for me because I don’t want to see a region like
ours further burdened – and I often say as much when the opportunity
arises being a member of the Transport committee.
Thanks again for writing. Your contact and that of others always helps
me make the case that this issue is one that is firmly in the public
domain and as such needs careful consideration.
