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Fuel prices at the pump are rocketing, and households face
ever-higher gas and electricity bills on top of higher council tax.
The cost of driving a car will soon be even higher. Low-income
households will be the hardest hit, just as they have been with the
10p income tax hikes.
The Government is to change the way
that Vehicle Excise Duty (VED) is calculated to raise an extra
£2,500,000,000 for Gordon Brown’s coffers. Family cars face higher
VED as well as a ‘showroom tax’ for new cars. The VED tax will be
retrospective – so any car bought after 2001 will be hit by the
higher tax rates. This will lead in turn to a plummeting re-sale
price for second-hand cars. This will make it more difficult for
people to replace their car and upgrade to a new or better one.
For example, the tax bill for a
typical Ford Mondeo will rise from £210 to £310 a year, with a new
£500 showroom tax on top. Yet, even the Government’s own estimates
show that carbon dioxide emissions from motoring will hardly be cut
at all.
Stewart said: “At a time when
families are feeling the pinch of the rising cost of living –
because of higher fuel prices, energy bills and council tax – the
Government should scrap its plans for a big increase in road tax on
family cars. This is yet another slap in the face for hard-working
families from Labour, on top of the 10p income tax hikes.
“Conservatives have consistently
opposed these measures. The Government must execute a sharp U-turn.
Any change in road tax should focus only on the most polluting
vehicles, and be offset by equivalent reductions in family taxes.
All Gordon Brown is interested in is finding new ways to push up his
notorious stealth taxes even further.”
Stewart
Jackson was elected in May 2005 to represent the
Peterborough constituency in the House of Commons.
To find out more about him, his views and activities, visit his
website at
www.stewartjackson.org.uk
Peterborough UK
Community Website - May 2008
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