PRESS RELEASE
27^th February 2007

Malcolm Moss MP voices opposition to Government’s “Sinister” Road Pricing Scheme

The Department for Transport has conducted a feasibility study and drawn up the blueprints for a road pricing system that is said to cost £62bn to set up and £8.6bn each year to run. Motorists could be faced with a cost of up to £600 to fit the black box for the ‘pay as you go’ road pricing system.

1.5 million people signed an online petition against the policy describing it as “sinister and wrong”. The Government have said that there are no cost free answers to the environmental and congestion problems we face and have decided to press on with the scheme despite the fierce opposition.

Malcolm Moss MP says:

“This system is socially unfair and severely regressive on the poor and those of moderate means, especially where the option of public transport is unavailable or unsatisfactory like in North East Cambridgeshire.

Tax valuations should be proportionate to the means of various individuals. A heavy road pricing system like the one the Government proposes could economically cripple many of my constituents who rely on their cars as their primary means of transportation over significant distances.”

The Department for Transport has predicted that payment will be handled by call centres and direct debit. Additionally an enforcement agency would need to be set up to deal with the 15% of motorists that are predicted will require debt management and the 3% of motorist where debt collectors would be needed.

These plans merely add to the fears of motoring and civil liberty groups that Britain in moving closer and closer to a big brother society. The Department for Transport’s feasibility study predicted that about 30 million cars on the nation’s roads could be tracked under this road pricing scheme.

Malcolm Moss MP says:

“A recent YouGov poll showed that only 9.1% of voters would support a road tax. The road pricing system is yet another stealth tax being imposed by the Government. Not only that but it is one that will unfairly affect rural residents. Mr Blair should abandon the road pricing scheme and consider other options such as an urban charging scheme similar to the London congestion charge or a version of the one in place in Singapore. Such a scheme will target those who cause the congestion problem rather then encourage blanket targeting of all citizens”