I'm not usually one to pass around emails, but I thought this one was important......
For all those car owners....This is real!!!!
Sarah Kennedy was on about this proposed car tax scheme on the radio.
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 the time of Sarah's comments only 250,000 people had signed it so far and 750,000 signatures are required to stop them introducing it.
This is legit... from the 10 Downing Street's website.
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. 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 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.
http://petitions.pm.gov.uk/traveltax/
Done and passed on.
done
Done 816 000 sigs so far.
Yup, been there, signed up, passed it on to family, colleagues and council representatives, had a very stern conversation with my local MP face to face etc.
It is a perfect way to introduce a two-tier society where the rich will still drive cars on open roads, companies will pass their costs (including salemen's fleet cars) on to us, things will get more expensive, small companies will go out of business and we all grow 3" due to the mud clinging to the bottom of our shoes. The oil companies will not be happy, nor the motor, steel, foam industries...but then they'll sell more to China as their economy and motor industry growth (& pollution...) is astonishing.
Yes, we have too many cars on the roads
Yes, there is an enviromental impact because of those vehicles
Yes, the public transport system will collapse once and for all
Yes, people will revolt. I predict another poll tax riot.
There are other ways to encourage less car use. Making a good public transport system is one way. The downside of privatisation is that the money goes to shareholders and the big bosses instead of full scale reinvestment into refurbishment and upgrading. The financial juggling where rolling stock is bought, sold then leased back again is further stupidity, despite the accountants saying that it makes this year's books look good is a bunch of hokum and not improving the situation.
The duel fuel cars are great but where do you fill up with fuel?
How many houses REALLY need two cars? They're taxing the 4x4's so how about taxing second cars heavily. Before I get blasted, let me just say that we have two cars. One is a 4x4. It's a very rare 4x4 because it actually gets covered in mud <gasp> when we pick up cheese/bread/sausages/etc from the producers, some of which live down the bottom of farm tracks. The other car is a sports car. They are both over 10 years old, pretty wrothless if we tried to sell them and we wouldn't be able to afford a new, more efficient single car anyway.
I am a culprit because I drive to work and work is in a scabby end of East London and it is cheaper (by £15 per week), more reliable (every day bar snow like today) and faster (by at least 45 minutes) than public transport.
What incentive do I and others have to use a public transport system that - for my town - is over crowded, over charged, riddled with cancellations even while you're en-route, unreliable, time consuming and filthy.
John Prescott wants 100,000+ houses in Herts & Essex... Does the man not think of impact - vehicular (estimate 2 per household), water, sewerage, power, road clogging, greater pressure on the public transport system etc...? There's a word that comes to mind that contains these letters WAKNER. It also applies to most politicians.
sent it on to all we know >:(
We've been signing it from our Freecycle site. Thanks for posing it hee.
second time i've tried to sign this, second time i've not got an email to respond to.
an email is on it's way to the hosts.
how many others haven't been able to sign ?
:-\
just looked, there are over 850,000, does that mean it's not going to go ahead ?
the tax or the petition ?
the tax, it said 750,000 signatures to stop it
don't believe it for a second. if they want to tax us, they will.
:-\
I thought it said 750K for them to have to present it to the PM, rather than stop it outright?
I agree with most of what you say bennetsleg, if we had a decent public transport system (and by that I mean clean, reliable, and not extortionately expensive) that got people from and to where they need to go, on time, every day, then more people would use it. The reason people don't use it (or can't use it) is because it's unreliable and expensive. E.g. my train to work was cancelled this morning and we hadn't had any snow at all - if I didn't have a car, I guarantee i'd be late at least once a week using this service. Here endeth my moan ;D
Anyhow, i've signed it, thanks for posting it SMP.
No e mail here either!!!!!.
Do check your junk/spam mail folder as mine went their as it came from an unknown sender.
nope, still nothing, not in the spam folder nor anywhere else.
i have highlighted the problem to the help team, let's see if i get a response before the deadline. call me cynical if you like but anything with No. 10 on it has got to be suspect.
(for the record, i have signed quite a few petitions using that site and this is the first time it's failed).
signed and passed on (got email ok)
Signed mine.
But it makes you think when 2/3 of a million people have to object to get a change of direction. That leaves something like 25 million that I suppose these people are claiming to have on their side.
Shouldn't it be that those 25 million be the ones to support this rather than the other way round.
I thought we were still democratic...What a laugh!
I have just signed. No problems, just went straight through.
Although I only travel between 5000 to 8000 per year,and have a very small car, I object strongly to the extra taxes this government extracts from us by stealth. I find it quite obscene.
Rosemary
Ok, setting myself up for some flame mail here, but I agree with the tax.
I am a high mileage driver ( approx 2500 per month) which I mostly fund, so I would get crucified.
Like many people I do a lot of miles for work ( not all of the 2500 are that), but company cars are pretty much a thing of the past & there's little if no chance my company will increase the travel allowance ( travel, not car!) the offer to avoid supplying cars, so this mostly falls back on the individuals.
If the money gets used to fund the investment needed in road infrastructure and reliable useful public transport I'd see it as a long term positive for me. I pollute more than most. I should contribute to alleviating it and making it easier to do it less.
Got my tin hat on and about to get in the car & drive 250 miles for my regular weekend in Scotland to check on my elderly mother.
Froglets - if I thought the money would go to improving the traffic/pollution problems I too would not object, but I know Mr Brown very well by now.
So I would not trust him one inch.
Rosemary
Why punish people for having 2 cars?? I need mine for work and so does my other half we go at different times in different directions its complete nonsense to punish people for needing 2 cars we tax insure and mot them and thats punishment enough.Neither of mine are over 3 years old so probaly pollute far less than a 10 yr old 4x4 and a 10 yr old sports car.
Why should we make these cut backs when the biggest nation in the world doesnt bother and won't sign up to any agreement to cut emissions.Although I am happy they brought the mighty reds ;D ;D ;D
Scrap car tax and tax fuel more. More you drive more you pay.
Silly Billy, sounds like a fair compromise.
I wouldn't support it on the grounds of 'We will put the extra into funding better public transport, cutting pollution and better roads'.
That's been the claim on just about every auto tax rise ever. Wasn't that the claim just last week with the airlines?
I'm sure the amount spent in that direction is a pretty low percentage.
but the investment won't be improving the infrastructure (and i thought that's what i paid my road tax for anyway), it'll be put into the next world domination attack on anyone who doesn't agree with the mighty western policies. just my tuppence worth anyway.
oh and btw, i got sent the link by another friend, so tried again using a different email address. it would appear there's a problem with hotmail and not gmail, so if you've not been able to sign up before, try another address.
oh and i wasn't trying to spam it, i was merely trying to voice my opinion, just the once.
;D
I agree with Froglets. I think they should bring it in and then we might see a better Bus/train/tram service that is there to support the customer.
Besides most of us support the idea of re-using materials that have been rejected by others. So why not support something that might just help reduce the carbon footprint of everyone in the country.
Saying that "I would not do it because X never will" is missing the whole point of the problem. If we reduce vehicle travel it might well reduce Asthma, accidents, carbon emissions and stress.
Noone plants anything to stop it growing. Neither should anyone fight an apparent negative with a negative attitude but should look for a positive way to make it acceptable.
Yes i hate the idea of hard charging but also recognise that someone has to start somewhere.
Just think, if there were hard charging then all those lorries and cars that come here from the Continent would contribute to the upkeep of our roads which they don't do at present. Those many drivers that travel around now with no road tax and no insurance would no longer be able to do it.
All those rat runs that cause misery to those that live on them could be hard charged and make life bearable.
Just think of all those concerts/field dos when car drivers avoid the offical car park and leave the car at a nearby road clogging it up. Well hard charging on specific days could go some way to stopping that.
So don't always think negative, try to change it with positive reasons. If you think that the money wll not be used then petition that the change should include an adjudicator to see that the money collected is dealtwith according to the public wishes. May be the government should be required to subsidise the supply and fitting of the equipment and be able to take the cost out of the first five years of the scheme.
Besides if you don't ask and you don't think about what is propsed you may get it anyway with out the required protections.
Anyway thats my take on it. I always hope that my little seedlings will grow into big plants. Any pruning I do is always to make sure that the plant grows stronger not weaker.
regards Bill
I,012,656 now signed
They are saying the petition will not make a bit of difference to their plans. Scare tactics! this is just a way of trying to stop you petitioning. They hope people will say 'what's the point' and not put their names down. Urge everyone you know to sign as a record of our discontent.
I see another 'poll tax' revolt looming.
I shall pass it on to my customers with my work truck, Mrs. Ace gets a mileage allowance in her job as she is classed as an essential user, so that will go up as well. Everything will go up in price to cover the costs.
ah the poll tax. somewhere else i lost out on money !
Well posted Sharon!
Other stuff aside, I believe that setting up sytems that can track people's whereabouts are an infringement of civil liberties. Another instance of nanny government and a police state (not just for Moslems). However that "evil" European Union will not allow it to happen (if they are consulted).
The whole Blair regime has been about robbing us of our civil liberties, by hook or by crook. That's the problem when you only have an 'unwritten' constitution; it's far too easy for a dictatorial PM to rewrite it to suit himself.
Couldn't agree more Robert!
Late night radio news last night put the signatories to the petition at approaching 1.25 million.....unmitigated joy when I heard that the choice of city for the trial is either Manchester - or Birmingham.
Wonder how many more unpaid volunteers like me and my friends, who are out there actively in our community sorting out problems for the elderly/disabled/distressed (potentially 700+ on our books) will withdraw their help? We're currently happy to use our petrol, time, expertise etc. but are not prepared to shoulder this extra charge. I hope that this scheme is scrapped.
I , trying to sign. it says site is busy try again so i shall. i don,t drive far under 2000 miles a year didnt start till i was 45 . used to shop and go around on a pushbike
that was 15years ago and i don,t fancy doing it again
I was thinking about this today.
Personally, I wouldn't mind being taxed on mileage - it would certainly make me think twice about unecessary journeys in the car and it could encourage 'journey- shares'/using public transport in the long run.
Sometimes when I'm going through town during the rush-hour it makes me sad to see so many people in cars (who probably live less than 2 miles from the City Centre)
I don't mind being taxed on petrol and mileage. Wouldn't want a tracking device though. Far too expensive to apply and too much 'Big Brother'
Maybe we could supply our mileage @ the 6 monthly MOT test and it could be billed from that?
I have already signed the petition from another link, but I fully agree with the objections.
There is possibly an argument for some sort of pay as you go pricing in inner cities, where good alternatives exist.
On the other hand, here in Lincolnshire, public transport is a complete joke. There is a very basic bus network within my home town, but out in 'the sticks' this is almost non-existent. So in other words, a car is absolutely essential.
As usual, the present Government doesn't seem to have thought this idea through. If they genuinely want people to consider using public transport, then it stands to reason that a degree of investment in said public transport system would be a good idea, first!
Of course, the other important consideration here, is that as a direct result of the continuing under investment in the National Rail Network, the vast majority of freight is carried by road.
If road hauliers are included in the road pricing scheme, their haulage rates will increase to compensate. If haulage rates increase, then the price of everything in the shops will also increase, and 3 per cent inflation will be but a distant memory.
Hopefully someone will see sense before this ridiculous (IMO) plan is put into operation.
heard on the news this morning, signatures are up to 1.5 million now..m.p's going mad ;D ;D
Done!
I go to other European countries a lot for my language injections. Just about everywhere I go - France, Belgium, Holland, Germany, Italy, Switzerland, Austria, Spain, Portugal - there is an excellent public transport infrastructure. So I'm happy to use public transport. It's fast, it's frequent and it's reasonably priced.
In Edinburgh it would take me at least an hour and a half to get to work (20 minutes by car) and the same back.
done it!!but they sent me 2 emails being british to the core i deleted one
margaret ::)
And, Silly Billy - your insurance is upped if you have 2 cars?? ?
For those of you who didn't get a personal copy, here's the response:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/6381279.stm (http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/6381279.stm)
I would be happy to sign, but I am not sure that I want to give Downing Street my e mail address -I know that they get any info they want about me, but still..........
Thanks for that, KP. Would have missed it.
So our Tony stayed up until after midnight last night to read the last entries & wrote those 5 pages of ......??
I wonder whether he ever read it at all!
My message from Tone was sent directly to my junk mail folder. Shame. :P
My message from B LIAR has been reported as unsolicitated spam.
we can all sleep safe in our beds tonight now we've been reassured ! :P