The debate over proposals to charge for road use has me amused. Comments seem to be all over the place, from it being a 'privatisation' of roads, it will 'get roads moving' to 'it will only affect new-build roads'.
Of course, the view is that taxation on motorists would need to be reduced, to act as a balance. This is the most laughable of all. What is the likelihood that a politician, faced with the opportunity to charge and tax, would consider any other option? The biggest fear over toll roads is that a) they will just be an additional cost and b) they will slow every journey you make as you have to continually join queues to pay.
Oh, I bet they will bring in remote payment, sensing your car passing a gantry and billing your 'card'. Ooh and while they are at it, they could put a box in your car that could rate your tax based on miles covered. And 'report' you for exceeding speed limits. Isn't technology wonderful? It is almost matched in inventiveness by politicians ability to find ways to impose tax.
And nowhere near meeting the greed of politicians (who will soon be identifiable by their cars having blue lights to gain priority on the roads and also signifying a car with no electronic tags).
In a successful economy, the people retain most of the wealth they earn or generate and redistribute that wealth by buying things. In our society we cannot be trusted with, well anything, but certainly not money, so ever more is taken off us so the state can, er, lose most of it. I wonder if our promised 'tax statement' will show 'government waste'?
I think it goes like this in order of cost; NHS, Welfare, Foreign 'aid' and Government waste. Things you actually want the government to do consumes about 2 percent of the money they spend.
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