Title: Beware the Lib/Dems Road Pricing plans
Date: 13/05/2010
URL: www.telegraph.co.uk

Preview:
From Mike Rutherford in the Daily Telegraph 

Clegg, Cable and Co are itching to spend billions of pounds launching and administering a nationwide toll system.

At 10.44 am on Monday May 10, I, on behalf of this newspaper, successfully made formal contact with Lib Dem HQ.

Worryingly for motorists like you and me, Britain's third political party (it won only 6.8 million votes in last week's General Election compared with Labour's 8.6 million and 10.7 million for the Conservatives) is and always has been unapologetically anti-car.

It clearly stated in its recently published, pre-election manifesto that it "will prepare for the introduction of a system of road pricing" which means the party intends to impose an ADDITIONAL layer of taxation called tolling which could price millions of low to middle income motorists, plus their adult and child passengers, off the road.

Opinion poll after opinion poll have proved beyond doubt that the vast majority of Brits are against Lib Dem-style road tolls on the grounds that we already pay, at current rates, around £52,000 million per annum in road user taxes. Not that the Lib Dems take much notice of such overwhelming public opinion.

Fact is that whether they're on the their own or working in partnership with other political parties, Clegg, Cable and Co are itching to waste billions of pounds launching and administering a nationwide toll system. And more importantly for them, they want to rake in even more billions in pay-per-mile toll charges.

Although they don't say so, this extra and expensive tier of motoring tax can only lead to one thing - substantially higher day-to-day running costs for tens of millions motorists who commute to work, drive to the shops, or visit friends, relatives, cinemas, restaurants and holiday destinations in their humble family cars.

As I've revealed in previous Mr Money columns, the Lib Dems have also served notice on us that "we will switch traffic from road to rail" and "we will provide much-needed alternatives to private cars."

Such blatant discrimination against drivers, coupled with their latest formal plan to hit those who remain on the road with toll fees of several pence - or will it be pounds? - per mile, are partly responsible for the party's failure to win or take second place in general elections.

In the past, LD's anti-car agenda wasn't worth losing sleep over because the party was never in any danger of winning enough votes to form a motorist-bullying Lib Dem government.

But Clegg, Cable and Co seemingly have the balance of power in their hands, and their backsides hovering over seats at the Cabinet table. Therefore they are perfectly poised to sneak the cruel and punishing "system of road pricing'' (their words, not mine) through the political back door.

Thus my call to the Lib Dem press office earlier this week with a series of questions which needed to be asked and - more importantly - the LDs needed to answer.

Precisely how many [extra] pence - or pounds - do the Lib Dems intend to charge us for every mile we drive? If the LDs can't give precise numbers at this stage, what are the estimated toll fees we'll be forced to pay - 10p per mile, 50ppm, 100ppm or the often mentioned and never denied figure of 130ppm

Is it the case that the busier the road, the more expensive the toll fee will be? Can those drivers living or working in and around big towns and cities expect to be hit harder in the pocket than those in rural areas? Will people be charged more for driving during rush hours and perhaps enjoy a price reduction when travelling at quieter times of the day?

The initial response from the occupants at Lib Dem HQ was that they just didn't have answers immediately to hand. But well over 24 hours later and knowing that the publication of this column was imminent, they still could not or would not reply to my questions. And that really does say it all.