Fuel prices at the pump are rocketing, and households face ever-higher gas and electricity bills on top of higher council tax. Unortunately, the cost of driving a car will soon be even higher. Low-income households, particularly in rural areas will be the hardest hit.
The Government is to change the way that Road Tax and 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.
Harriett Baldwin, Conservative Parliamentary Candidate for West Worcestershire 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. I also call upon the Liberal Democrats to clarify whether they still stand behind their own policy of increasing the Vehicle Excise Duty on the Ford Mondeo to £2,000 and the Volkswagen Golf to £1,500.
"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. Tax increases should not be retrospective like this. All Gordon Brown is interested in is finding new ways to push up his notorious stealth taxes even further."