[Paul Coleman]

POSTED TO ANOTHER FORUM TOO
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I don't know how people here feel about road charging but the proposals that are currently being discussed would be the death of window cleaning as we know it.
They are talking about £1.50 a mile.  If someone drives 10,000 miles a year (not unreasonable)  in the course of their business, they will have to find £15,000 from somewhere.  Originally they were taking about abolishing fuel tax and road tax to help towards it.  They are not talking about that now.  They are talking about charging more at peak times.  I don't know about you but I personally find it easier to clean windows when it's light.
I don't want this debate to be too political (yet !!) but if a political party promises not to bring this measure in, I will probably vote for them.
They talk about using the funds to improve public transport.  That will possibly be viable when somone has a single place of work to go to but it's no good for window cleaning or any mobile business.

Make no mistake about it.  The state wants to go back to the days when private transport was for the rich and elite only.  If they try to bring this in, I believe that the poll tax riots will look like a playground squabble.
What will more likely happen is that the initial proposals will be outrageous (as they seem to be).  They will gradually water them down and everyone will breathe a sigh of relief when they "only" sting us for an extra 5 grand instead of 15 grand a year.
It's five years away but we can't bury our heads in the sand on this one.  If people do not complain to their MPs and make a huge fuss, theyt will assume that it's OK to go ahead with it.
It needs action now.  A few thousand letters to each MP would make them start thinking.  I urge everyone to write to their MPs and to other MPs as well if it takes their fancy.
They are not even talking about giving better deals for zero or low emission fuels as with congestion charging.
I intend to take it up with the Federation of Small Businesses too.
I feel that there may be a role for the Trade Associations in this as well.
Another potential ally is the motor industry I imagine.  It would have a huge effect on vehicle sales.
Also, the talk is of penalising the larger polluters.  Health and Safety have caused many window cleaners to get larger vans in order to carry water with them.  This in turn has meant larger engines and more diesel usage.  Sometimes I'm frightened to f a r t in case someone tries to slap a pollution tax on me.

[simon knight]

The motorist has long been seen by successive governments as milch cows. We in the UK pay more for fuel (almost globally), have the highest road tax in the EU, pay the heaviest penalties for minor infringements and have less right to road space than buses and cyclists. Our public transport system is crap at best and certainly the most expensive in Europe.

For whatever reason the government seems determined to force people onto public transport and forgo their cars/vans. But if the government is successful in this:

1) What happens to the automotive industry along with the 1000s it employs.
2) From where does the exchequer recover the £billions of lost fuel revenue.

It is political and I for one will never vote for a party who advocates this nonsense.

This per mile charge isn't new by any means and as you say it will be back to the poll-tax riots...."Can't pay...won't pay".

[marc al]

   It is the same old story, doesn't matter what you look at the tax payer ends up paying for Government failures.
 
    This time it is successive Governments over the years failing to put into place effective infrastructures to deal with the growing population and the fact that we all neeed to travel, whether it be by car, bus or train, non of the methods is up to the job, so now we have to pay for it.

    Unfortuantly I think the country is now so appathetic and beaten down by the powers that be, nobody will do anything more than grumble a bit to there mates.

   WE NEED A REVOLUTION!!

   Just my view!!

   Thanks for listening

    Citizen Smith

[Toff]

I agree with all of you, people don't want this and the pollictical parties need to know that they will lose votes if they bring this in. If they left things the same because of the congestion getting so bad it would start to sort it self out you would have to change times and routes to get anywhere. The trouble with this country is it fancies it self as a super power and gets into other peoples business.

[Neil Williams]

If it means I can get to the first job 20 minutes earlier than at present because the roads are clogged up with one adult dropping off one kid to school then it will be worth it.
Every morning I see at least 100 cars carrying 100 kids to the local school...just 2 buses could do that job.

[dai]

It would certainly put and end to my business. 85% of my work is over 25 miles away.
Of course, hauliers are going to pick up the brunt of it and be forced to put up their prices. This will have the knock on affect of O.A.P'S paying paying more for everything too. The costs to the economy as a whole will be high, higher costs will push up inflation, no daubt about that.
The thing that is even more frightening in some respects, is that big brother will be monitoring our every move. Everywhere we go, every time we stop, big brother will be watching.
I am law obiding and have nothing to hide as such, but this would be the death knell of individual freedom.
If the government think the traffic is bad here, they should see how they cope in Bankock and Jakarta. People will just have to learn to be patient, if they decide they want, or have to spend more of their precious time stuck in traffic jams, it's up to them as individuals to make that choice.
We have been led by succesive governments to the lifestyle we now enjoy. You can't put this genie back in the bottle.
If any government thinks people will stay at home in order to allow MP's and civil servants to speed around in their own subsidised cars, They are mistaken.
Maybe it's time that the rich learned, that their time is no more precious than ours

[pjulk]

If they bring that in and charge £1.50 a mile i think that will be the end of my business also, I just could not afford that.

And would change my career.

I can't see it coming in though as the country would just grind to a halt.

Everything would probably cost 5 times more.
I can't see people paying £1 for a tin of beans.

Fuel prices would go through the roof.

And everyone would be signing on.

Paul

[EasyClean]

I believe 'Key workers' in the Uk who travel excessive miles to work would give up the struggle of trying to get onto the property ladder and resort to changing careers for a 'local' less rewarding job with zero prospects just to make a living to be able to afford the bills.
Many of the rich people don't invest in the stock markets, they prefer to buy second homes as their guarnateed retirement plans because they have very little trust in the government looking after their pension plans.
The government needs to stop making it profitable for second home owners to purchase in the 1st place. This would free up the lack of affordable housing, cut down on key workers travelling excessive miles to work, cut down on road pollution, the cycle goes on!!!!

[DREAM CLEAN]

yea my company will go under as I have three vans on the road, so it will be time to go on the dole stay at home donn't go out and let the govement pay me to stay in

[GRAHAM.K]

This proposal is pure scaremainering by the most corrupt , inept government this century.
The same as when Blair orchestrated the ridiculous scenario of sending tanks onto the runway at heathrow to scare the public that we were under imminent attack, to justify his war on terrorism. How can you declare a war on a tactic

This government is in debt to the tune of £53,000 for every man woman and child in Britain.If we were a company we would have been declared bankrupt a long time ago.

Solution: print more money. result : easy credit, consumer spending boom ,house price inflation and eventually bust.

When this housing bubble bursts ( and it will) and this easy credit train comes to a halt people will realise that their so called wealth was nothing but an illusion.

We are facing the biggest bust this century, this £1.50 proposal will end up as nothing but a silly of the cuff remark.

I personally this year have lost several jobs, small to medium manufacturers, companies who actually made things, they have either sold up and closed down or moved abroad the land sold off to build yet more flats( sorry apartments ) on.

We are a nation of nail bars and shopping malls , fuelled by credit cards and loans against property.

One of the fastest growing companies in Britain is Debt Free Direct. A company that consolidates debt and gets its hands on your property if you dont keep up your payments.

We will have some hard times ahead as window cleaners. Service industries tend to suffer when finances get tight.

This £1.50 wont see the light of day.

CHEERS

[Paul Coleman]

This proposal is pure scaremainering by the most corrupt , inept government this century.
The same as when Blair orchestrated the ridiculous scenario of sending tanks onto the runway at heathrow to scare the public that we were under imminent attack, to justify his war on terrorism. How can you declare a war on a tactic

This government is in debt to the tune of £53,000 for every man woman and child in Britain.If we were a company we would have been declared bankrupt a long time ago.

Solution: print more money. result : easy credit, consumer spending boom ,house price inflation and eventually bust.

When this housing bubble bursts ( and it will) and this easy credit train comes to a halt people will realise that their so called wealth was nothing but an illusion.

We are facing the biggest bust this century, this £1.50 proposal will end up as nothing but a silly of the cuff remark.

I personally this year have lost several jobs, small to medium manufacturers, companies who actually made things, they have either sold up and closed down or moved abroad the land sold off to build yet more flats( sorry apartments ) on.

We are a nation of nail bars and shopping malls , fuelled by credit cards and loans against property.

One of the fastest growing companies in Britain is Debt Free Direct. A company that consolidates debt and gets its hands on your property if you dont keep up your payments.

We will have some hard times ahead as window cleaners. Service industries tend to suffer when finances get tight.

This £1.50 wont see the light of day.

CHEERS

Graham.  I think you are probably about right there with what you say.  The nature of  capitalism seems to be slump/boom and we seem to be edging into the next slump.  The higher the peaks the deeper the troughs so there is probably quite a slump ahead.  I can't see the £1.50 per mile making it either.  I do have a concern that they will establish the general principle at a much lower rate and, once that is established, they will shunt it upwards.  Just look at the London congestion charge.  Started at a fiver a day then after a couple of years we saw a 60% increase and the entrapment area increased too.  It may work to some degree in a densely populated metropolis but London is a case on its own - and of course, at least mobile businesses have some sort of way of avoiding it by going for LPG.
While I'm responding to you, I just thought I would point out that we are only six years into this century but you do make some good points IMO   

[macc]

I think the same will happen with road charging as with Uni fees.

The Labour MPs voted against Uni fees in Scotland but voted them in down here.

2p a mile in Scotland, £1.50 a mile in England.

Macc

[AuRavelling79]

Get a grip guys! £1.50 a mile is a laff! The country would grind to a halt.

Old old story: -

Gov. wants to scare you witless so that when the real rate comes out you go phew, that wasn't so bad.

Media wants you to buy chipwrappers so they report it.

[telboy]

The time will come when all your earnings are payed to the government
and they will give you back what they think you deserve   

[macc]

The time will come when all your earnings are payed to the government
and they will give you back what they think you deserve   

This lot have taxed us up to the eye balls with stelff taxes, so in one way they have already done that.