Apparently there are a lor of far right rallies planned this weekend.t

They really have been emboldened by Farage and ir's been thst way since Brexshit

More? Jesus. Do they not have anything better to do?

Farage has made some very provocative remarks this week (not that he has avoided being provocative in any other week). I hope many of the people who voted for him finally realise what a vile excuse for a human being he is.

To be honest I think the people who voted for him know exactly what he's like and don't care.

Sounds like Labour might be pushing through the Treasury plans to over haul the car tax system and replace it with a regressive pay per mile system. Probably a good thing imo, although interested how they're going to set up.

Sounds like Labour might be pushing through the Treasury plans to over haul the car tax system and replace it with a regressive pay per mile system. Probably a good thing imo, although interested how they're going to set up.

 

What would they involve?

Sounds like Labour might be pushing through the Treasury plans to over haul the car tax system and replace it with a regressive pay per mile system. Probably a good thing imo, although interested how they're going to set up.

 

I like the sound of that tbh! But nor sure how they'd manage it

What would they involve?

 

Well you'd scrap the current system and replace it with some form of road mileage system, so the more miles you do, the more you pay etc. - but no idea how they would manage that, unless you ahd to declare your yearly mileage or it was done of Car MOTs. They need to find a way to tax electric cars and still encourage people to switch green, but no idea how they'd implement it. Sounds like a costly solution and one the Tories and Reform will absolutely hate. But I actually think it's probably a good thing.

Prob for the greater good but would be electorally bad. Plus people who use cars for their job would be punished!

Sounds overly complicated, harder to implement than the current system and will not be popular.

 

The aim shouldn't be to punish people for driving a certain amount of miles full stop, many do so to earn a living, but to encourage people to drive in vehicles that are more environmental. Just unfreeze fuel duty while continuing to incentivize take up of EV's with exemption from charges and subsidies if affordable. Will still be unpopular among some sections of the public but has a clear environmental justification and is better than arseing about with taxes in this way.

 

 

I do think there’s convenience culture in society where people drive their car because they are lazy though so I don’t think it’s a bad thing. It’s also about the fact there’s too much congestion by private vehicles on the roads!

And I assume that’s a prejudiced view from you as you’re a non driver.

 

I live in a village in North Wales. We currently have no buses that come through that could take me to the village I work in and I have to walk 20 minutes to get to a bus stop that will take me to my nearest city. We also get one train an hour that only goes one route. Public transport is the pits if you don’t live in a city and most of us rely heavily on cars because it’s the easiest way for us to get where we need to go.

Yeh it probably is a prejudiced view in fairness but I think there is an element of truth in it deep down. Fair enough for your specific situation that’s fine but most car journeys are less than 2 miles on average and the most traffic in the city I work is from people who live within 2 miles of the city centre who do have other choices in terms of their transport.

 

For the record I do drive a car but bus it to work!

Edited August 23, 2024Aug 23 by Steve201

Environmental racking up a huge mileage is a bad thing, but equally so is owning a car that barely gets used - both should be taxed.

Sounds overly complicated, harder to implement than the current system and will not be popular.

 

The aim shouldn't be to punish people for driving a certain amount of miles full stop, many do so to earn a living, but to encourage people to drive in vehicles that are more environmental. Just unfreeze fuel duty while continuing to incentivize take up of EV's with exemption from charges and subsidies if affordable. Will still be unpopular among some sections of the public but has a clear environmental justification and is better than arseing about with taxes in this way.

 

Most people who drive for a living do so for business, their tax is funded by the company. I think it may be electroally unpopular too, but if you're going to do something like this, then now is the time..

 

Suspect the real reason behind all this is the treasury are forecasting they'll lose billions through electric vehicles not paying any road tax. The road tax system has always been slightly unfair and not sure there is a perfect solution in any case, but more people are only going to go electric, so the solution is either they tax electic vehicles or overhaul the system.

“Under a Labour government we would freeze energy bills. We wouldn’t allow them to go up.”

 

~ Keir Starmer

 

Electric vehicles are heavier and cause more road wear per mile than their carbon powered counterparts, there should be an effective way of taxing them for the damage they cause to our streets.

 

A tax that is progressive by weight of the car, cross referenced by fuel source and road type, would be a fair mix. Some of these absolute monstrosities on our roads really should be banned for being too big (they’re so much more lethal for pedestrians and other road users) but that would be tough to achieve, a tax that makes them prohibitively expensive to drive in town would help restrict some of these things to the countryside where they’re more useful. (No one living in a city needs an SUV)

Hoodwinked us all, Keir.

 

Hoodwinked us all, Keir.

 

?

 

This is exactly what Labour said they would do. It's dumb and it's stupid (particularly the ruling out of increases to taxes in so many areas) and it's treating everything like a household, obsessing over the sources of money rather than its positive effects on society. Like I said before, they won't call it austerity but it'll serve the same purpose.

 

That said, given the state of the public finances and the insistence on staying within this economic framing* they weren't left with many options once they'd straitjacketed themselves into what was left.

 

The worst thing is the tone of this speech. It's self-defeating, to announce that pain will be felt and there's nothing to look forward to. Sure, the other extreme is worse, as we saw with the Sunak insistence that nothing is wrong, but what political strategist decided that misery and hardship was a good backdrop for Starmer to reintroduce himself as PM?

 

and then with their decimation of the left and the centre-right the only other game in town will be Reform once this all goes to shit but I get ahead of myself

 

*I have a solution, it's in a little book called Das Kapital The General Theory of Employment, Interest and Money

?

 

This is exactly what Labour said they would do. It's dumb and it's stupid (particularly the ruling out of increases to taxes in so many areas) and it's treating everything like a household, obsessing over the sources of money rather than its positive effects on society. Like I said before, they won't call it austerity but it'll serve the same purpose.

 

That said, given the state of the public finances and the insistence on staying within this economic framing* they weren't left with many options once they'd straitjacketed themselves into what was left.

 

The worst thing is the tone of this speech. It's self-defeating, to announce that pain will be felt and there's nothing to look forward to. Sure, the other extreme is worse, as we saw with the Sunak insistence that nothing is wrong, but what political strategist decided that misery and hardship was a good backdrop for Starmer to reintroduce himself as PM?

 

and then with their decimation of the left and the centre-right the only other game in town will be Reform once this all goes to shit but I get ahead of myself

 

*I have a solution, it's in a little book called Das Kapital The General Theory of Employment, Interest and Money

Oh OK, fair enough.

 

I've probably read an unreliable source somewhere.

Is giving public services pay increases part of austerity?

 

I think it’s right people are annoyed, however not really sure what else can be done. Does feel like some difficult choices need to be made and while I feel a tax rise is the most logical choice, it’s walking in to a Tory trap so they will be around it. Still feel if they’ve got to make some tough choices, now is the time to do it. The economic data at the moment is largely promising so that’s something but certainly with the volatility in the energy market, does feel like it’s going to be a difficult 12 months.

Is giving public services pay increases part of austerity?

 

I think it’s right people are annoyed, however not really sure what else can be done. Does feel like some difficult choices need to be made and while I feel a tax rise is the most logical choice, it’s walking in to a Tory trap so they will be around it. Still feel if they’ve got to make some tough choices, now is the time to do it. The economic data at the moment is largely promising so that’s something but certainly with the volatility in the energy market, does feel like it’s going to be a difficult 12 months.

 

No, but the public service pay increase was overdue and enough to bring it in line with where it probably should be - isn't really an indication of stimulating the economy to grow it... as of yet. I am expecting the budget to be very much austerity-driven though.

 

Agree that now is the time to make harsh choices, there's a chance of them having a payoff by the time of the next election.