Labour to scrap national road pricing plans
Discussion
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=/ne...
Labour to scrap national road pricing plans
By David Millward, Transport Editor
Last Updated: 6:25am BST 15/10/2007
Ministers are to perform a U-turn by shelving plans for a national road pricing scheme that would have cost motorists up to £1.30 a mile.
The Government has bowed to the groundswell of opposition which saw 1.8 million people back a Downing Street petition and a campaign by The Daily Telegraph calling for the proposals to be ditched.
The sudden reversal on road pricing is the latest in a series of flagship policies advocated by Tony Blair to have been scrapped by Gordon Brown.
It follows the decision to abandon plans for a "super casino" and to review the current laws on cannabis and all-day drinking.
One senior Government source said national road pricing had fallen down the list of priorities – "it has been back burnered."
The retreat will be signalled by the Department for Transport this week in response to a back bench committee's report into the draft Local Transport Bill.
The Bill was seen as a staging post for a comprehensive scheme that would affect every driver.
This was made clear by Douglas Alexander, the former transport secretary, when he urged Cabinet colleagues to find a slot for the Bill in the last Queen's speech.
He wrote in August last year that it would "help to pave the way for a national road-pricing scheme in the medium to long term".
But next week MPs will be told by the DfT: "It is not the department's intention, at this stage, to take the separate powers needed to price the national road network."
The department will add: "We agree that there are congestion problems on parts of the strategic road network, but 88 per cent of congestion is in urban areas. Therefore it is sensible to prioritise the assessment of road pricing in these areas."
Peter Roberts, the campaigner who posted the petition on the Downing Street website, said he was delighted that the Government "listened to the voice of the people".
"I think it is a vindication of the 1.8 million who signed the petition," he said. "Without it the Government would have gone ahead. It is a good day for democracy."
The Tories seized on the decision as a sign that the Government had a lack of vision.
"This [road pricing] was their flagship policy and this is a dramatic U-turn," said Theresa Villiers, the party's transport spokesman.
"It shows a complete lack of direction. We have been urging them to scrap national road pricing for the last two years."
The new strategy – which is similar to proposals adopted by the Tories – will leave it to local authorities to decide whether they wish to introduce congestion busting schemes in their own areas.
This would apply even to areas containing local and national trunk roads. But even there the Government has run into trouble, with only Greater Manchester submitting a formal application to run a road pricing scheme.
The West Midlands, seen as another likely guinea pig, decided against drawing up a road pricing blueprint earlier this year.
The reversal of policy follows accusations that Labour has recently been stealing Conservative policies on inheritance tax, green taxes and "non-domiciled" UK residents. On Saturday, Andy Burnham, the chief secretary to the Treasury, proposed providing tax incentives for married couples, another Tory policy.
Plans for pay-as-you-drive road pricing were first drawn up by the Ministry of Transport in the 1960s. They were dusted off two years ago by Alistair Darling when he was transport secretary.
Warning that Britain faced gridlock, even if it built more roads, Mr Darling called for action to "manage demand".
But as details emerged of what road pricing entailed, public hostility grew.
The possibility of tracking every motorist's movements by satellite alarmed many privacy campaigners.
Shaken by the wave of hostility, the Government's position gradually shifted towards insisting that no final decision had been taken on a national scheme.
At the Labour conference, Ruth Kelly, the Transport Secretary, said road pricing was "inevitable".
However, close friends swiftly stressed that she was still not committing the Government to a scheme involving the entire country.
In its response to the Transport Committee, the Government now appears to have killed off the possibility of a national scheme.
"This is very welcome," said John Spellar, a former Labour transport minister and vigorous opponent of road pricing.
There was a guarded welcome from AA Public Affairs. "I think there will be great relief from drivers," a spokesman said.
However, he said a network of local schemes could end with motorists paying more in some parts of the country without any reduction in fuel duty or car tax.
Labour to scrap national road pricing plans
By David Millward, Transport Editor
Last Updated: 6:25am BST 15/10/2007
Ministers are to perform a U-turn by shelving plans for a national road pricing scheme that would have cost motorists up to £1.30 a mile.
The Government has bowed to the groundswell of opposition which saw 1.8 million people back a Downing Street petition and a campaign by The Daily Telegraph calling for the proposals to be ditched.
The sudden reversal on road pricing is the latest in a series of flagship policies advocated by Tony Blair to have been scrapped by Gordon Brown.
It follows the decision to abandon plans for a "super casino" and to review the current laws on cannabis and all-day drinking.
One senior Government source said national road pricing had fallen down the list of priorities – "it has been back burnered."
The retreat will be signalled by the Department for Transport this week in response to a back bench committee's report into the draft Local Transport Bill.
The Bill was seen as a staging post for a comprehensive scheme that would affect every driver.
This was made clear by Douglas Alexander, the former transport secretary, when he urged Cabinet colleagues to find a slot for the Bill in the last Queen's speech.
He wrote in August last year that it would "help to pave the way for a national road-pricing scheme in the medium to long term".
But next week MPs will be told by the DfT: "It is not the department's intention, at this stage, to take the separate powers needed to price the national road network."
The department will add: "We agree that there are congestion problems on parts of the strategic road network, but 88 per cent of congestion is in urban areas. Therefore it is sensible to prioritise the assessment of road pricing in these areas."
Peter Roberts, the campaigner who posted the petition on the Downing Street website, said he was delighted that the Government "listened to the voice of the people".
"I think it is a vindication of the 1.8 million who signed the petition," he said. "Without it the Government would have gone ahead. It is a good day for democracy."
The Tories seized on the decision as a sign that the Government had a lack of vision.
"This [road pricing] was their flagship policy and this is a dramatic U-turn," said Theresa Villiers, the party's transport spokesman.
"It shows a complete lack of direction. We have been urging them to scrap national road pricing for the last two years."
The new strategy – which is similar to proposals adopted by the Tories – will leave it to local authorities to decide whether they wish to introduce congestion busting schemes in their own areas.
This would apply even to areas containing local and national trunk roads. But even there the Government has run into trouble, with only Greater Manchester submitting a formal application to run a road pricing scheme.
The West Midlands, seen as another likely guinea pig, decided against drawing up a road pricing blueprint earlier this year.
The reversal of policy follows accusations that Labour has recently been stealing Conservative policies on inheritance tax, green taxes and "non-domiciled" UK residents. On Saturday, Andy Burnham, the chief secretary to the Treasury, proposed providing tax incentives for married couples, another Tory policy.
Plans for pay-as-you-drive road pricing were first drawn up by the Ministry of Transport in the 1960s. They were dusted off two years ago by Alistair Darling when he was transport secretary.
Warning that Britain faced gridlock, even if it built more roads, Mr Darling called for action to "manage demand".
But as details emerged of what road pricing entailed, public hostility grew.
The possibility of tracking every motorist's movements by satellite alarmed many privacy campaigners.
Shaken by the wave of hostility, the Government's position gradually shifted towards insisting that no final decision had been taken on a national scheme.
At the Labour conference, Ruth Kelly, the Transport Secretary, said road pricing was "inevitable".
However, close friends swiftly stressed that she was still not committing the Government to a scheme involving the entire country.
In its response to the Transport Committee, the Government now appears to have killed off the possibility of a national scheme.
"This is very welcome," said John Spellar, a former Labour transport minister and vigorous opponent of road pricing.
There was a guarded welcome from AA Public Affairs. "I think there will be great relief from drivers," a spokesman said.
However, he said a network of local schemes could end with motorists paying more in some parts of the country without any reduction in fuel duty or car tax.
Hmmmn.
No national scheme?
I think they found it was too hard to do and would be political suicide.
So, instead, they will do it using salami-slicing tactics a little at a time. First the town centres. Then the key routes into the town centres. Then the motorways - because they're easy. Then there will be road pricing.
The only defence is to dish out a political kicking anywhere it is introduced.
Londoners signally failed to do that. Shame. So I guess there will be road charging then.
No national scheme?
I think they found it was too hard to do and would be political suicide.
So, instead, they will do it using salami-slicing tactics a little at a time. First the town centres. Then the key routes into the town centres. Then the motorways - because they're easy. Then there will be road pricing.
The only defence is to dish out a political kicking anywhere it is introduced.
Londoners signally failed to do that. Shame. So I guess there will be road charging then.
Good news!
However, Manchester was blackmailed into submitting plans. The Manchester Evening News ran an extensive investigation that revealed that the government had only agreed to pledge regeneration money to the council if they submitted a road charging plan, apparently in the name of raising money (although calculations showed that the scheme would cost more money to run than it would make for many years - one of the reasons, I think, why they don't want to exempt motorbikes.
Brown's put money on fuel duty instead. Although we may grumble, it's preferable to big brother.
However, Manchester was blackmailed into submitting plans. The Manchester Evening News ran an extensive investigation that revealed that the government had only agreed to pledge regeneration money to the council if they submitted a road charging plan, apparently in the name of raising money (although calculations showed that the scheme would cost more money to run than it would make for many years - one of the reasons, I think, why they don't want to exempt motorbikes.
Brown's put money on fuel duty instead. Although we may grumble, it's preferable to big brother.
Marki said:
It will be back in another form
I think they've realised that charging people to go on every single road is daft, but they'll look into London-style congestion charges for major cities instead. I can imagine some road tolls might go up on busy motorways too (although they'd have to build more roads for that to work)Oh god I hope its true.
I worked on the original Lorry Road Usage Charge system which would have seen a system for trucks in the UK. This would have equalised the inequality for EU registered trucks who get away with not paying a bean while UK ones pay swinging taxation. Now this was a good idea (and supported by the UK trucking industry) only to have it hijacked by the government and spun into all vehicles.
Hopefully they will move it back to what the original plan was again. Lets start charging EU trucks (just like what they do to our UK trucks over there) and equalise things for UK companies. Surely this is what the government is supposed to do? Make it easier for UK businesses to operate and ensure that the country wins as a whole....
I am sure the Greenies will be up in arms, but lets see what happens in the coming months.
I worked on the original Lorry Road Usage Charge system which would have seen a system for trucks in the UK. This would have equalised the inequality for EU registered trucks who get away with not paying a bean while UK ones pay swinging taxation. Now this was a good idea (and supported by the UK trucking industry) only to have it hijacked by the government and spun into all vehicles.
Hopefully they will move it back to what the original plan was again. Lets start charging EU trucks (just like what they do to our UK trucks over there) and equalise things for UK companies. Surely this is what the government is supposed to do? Make it easier for UK businesses to operate and ensure that the country wins as a whole....
I am sure the Greenies will be up in arms, but lets see what happens in the coming months.
Twincam16 said:
Marki said:
It will be back in another form
I think they've realised that charging people to go on every single road is daft, but they'll look into London-style congestion charges for major cities instead. I can imagine some road tolls might go up on busy motorways too (although they'd have to build more roads for that to work)
off_again said:
Oh god I hope its true.
I worked on the original Lorry Road Usage Charge system which would have seen a system for trucks in the UK. This would have equalised the inequality for EU registered trucks who get away with not paying a bean while UK ones pay swinging taxation. Now this was a good idea (and supported by the UK trucking industry) only to have it hijacked by the government and spun into all vehicles.
Hopefully they will move it back to what the original plan was again. Lets start charging EU trucks (just like what they do to our UK trucks over there) and equalise things for UK companies. Surely this is what the government is supposed to do? Make it easier for UK businesses to operate and ensure that the country wins as a whole....
I am sure the Greenies will be up in arms, but lets see what happens in the coming months.
interesting to hear how it started. charging EU trucks the same as out trucks pay sounds a good ifea to me. if only to protect our businesses.I worked on the original Lorry Road Usage Charge system which would have seen a system for trucks in the UK. This would have equalised the inequality for EU registered trucks who get away with not paying a bean while UK ones pay swinging taxation. Now this was a good idea (and supported by the UK trucking industry) only to have it hijacked by the government and spun into all vehicles.
Hopefully they will move it back to what the original plan was again. Lets start charging EU trucks (just like what they do to our UK trucks over there) and equalise things for UK companies. Surely this is what the government is supposed to do? Make it easier for UK businesses to operate and ensure that the country wins as a whole....
I am sure the Greenies will be up in arms, but lets see what happens in the coming months.
Hooli said:
off_again said:
Stuff about LRUC
interesting to hear how it started. charging EU trucks the same as out trucks pay sounds a good ifea to me. if only to protect our businesses.The LRUC was designed as a system to equalise the system for all. UK truckers would pay less (usage charge) and they would pay the same as the EU trucks who would now have to pay too. So its unlikely that the UK truckers would pay less, but increasingly though the EU ones would have the same costs involved and hence an equal playing field for all to compete. We get more revenue into the UK coffers and we help protect our own business. The UK trucking industry fully supported this and actually lobbied for it for years. It was passed before parliament and was going ahead.
Well, it was until the government realised that they could expand this from trucks to anything. Cerching went the treasury and hence it was planned for everyone. No mention of what would happen to EU trucks of course, but it didnt matter as they could charge everyone for roads that we paid for in the first place! Bloody stupid if you ask me.
Thats about it really. The rest of Europe is heading down the road of systems like the LRUC (Germany and Austria already have systems in place) and it looks like we will be the last to adopt again. So now we run the risk of completely sinking our trucking industry for the lack of action by our illustrious government again. Oh well, time to sell off another section of UK industry then....
Tho Kelly could be out on her ear if it came in...
http://www.manchestereveningnews.co.uk/news/s/1017...
http://www.manchestereveningnews.co.uk/news/s/1017...
manchester evening news said:
A poll of voters in the constituency found 76 per cent of people said they were `very' or `quite' unlikely to vote for Ms Kelly in a general election if road charging was introduced.
Ms Kelly will defend a majority of 2,064 at the next election - and her Conservative opponent will be Trafford council leader Susan Williams.
Ms Williams' council voted against submitting a £3bn bid to the government's Transport Innovation Fund - which would trigger a local congestion charge of up to £5 a day at peak hours.
Ms Kelly will defend a majority of 2,064 at the next election - and her Conservative opponent will be Trafford council leader Susan Williams.
Ms Williams' council voted against submitting a £3bn bid to the government's Transport Innovation Fund - which would trigger a local congestion charge of up to £5 a day at peak hours.
"but 88 per cent of congestion is in urban areas"- can you guess where it is going to be inroduced yet.
I agree with Don, they will introduce it a bit at a time. Lets face it if they do it a bit at a time the scheme will gain more support from people in affected areas as, i imagine will have the "why should we have to pay and not them" attitude. The end is nigh.
I agree with Don, they will introduce it a bit at a time. Lets face it if they do it a bit at a time the scheme will gain more support from people in affected areas as, i imagine will have the "why should we have to pay and not them" attitude. The end is nigh.
Someone one here predicted a while ago that the National scheme would be threatened, vilified by all, then subsequently scaled back to a smaller version. At that point the public would think they'd won, when they'd actually got the lesser of two evils, and landed with the system the government wanted all along.
In other words, trade a national road pricing system for congestion charging in every major city.
How much did it cost to implement the London Congestion Charge, and how much would it cost to copy it for other cities. Compare that to how much would need to be invested to cover every road in Britain, and think about where most the revenue would come from anyway? Exaggerating it a wee bit, surely it's a case of 99% of the revenue coming from cities, but 99% of the cost being from covering all the non-urban roads?
In other words, trade a national road pricing system for congestion charging in every major city.
How much did it cost to implement the London Congestion Charge, and how much would it cost to copy it for other cities. Compare that to how much would need to be invested to cover every road in Britain, and think about where most the revenue would come from anyway? Exaggerating it a wee bit, surely it's a case of 99% of the revenue coming from cities, but 99% of the cost being from covering all the non-urban roads?
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