perhaps cutting fuel duty and introducing a tracking system (and pissing off a load of big-brother type conspiracy theorists in the process) may not be the best way to do this?
Heres one big brother theorist who would be mightily pissed off to say the least.
You won,t be able to go for a piss soon without being on candid camera :!:
it seems to me the government are expecting that the current revenue that is collected by the road fuel tax is about to dry up
that is they expect us to be using somthing other than petrol
You might have something there Tim
But I think we have fossil fuels on tap for the next 500 years. So why get something like this up and running so quickly 2015.
If you ask me its just a good way to screw money of the public and add more power to the control of the Nanny state we are entering.
Still if people are for this I suppose it must be the favoured choice by the majority of the people.
The government polls all show a positive take up for the Pay by the Mile and ID cards etc etc.
So it must be good for us right ?
Heres a good piece
Darling’s driving our privacy into the crash barrier
Jasper Gerard
If Alistair Darling gets away with spying on 32m drivers with great big speed cameras in the sky, it could revolutionise motoring.
Signs will read Dorking 50 (quid, not miles). Instead of Little Chefs, motorways will boast Little Banks offering second mortgages to complete your journey. Wealthy sorts will drive in business class lanes (roomier; softer concrete).
Arguments about government initiatives can be finely balanced but road charging is a policy so bonkers you fear Darling is drunk in charge of a government; has he swigged too much eyebrow dye? Existing taxes on petrol are fair. We pay in proportion to how much we drive and the Inland Revenue looks to the fuel efficiency of company cars when charging us for the benefit. But Ali D will charge a Smart car as much as a dumb Hummer (or a belching ministerial Jaguar).
If he must punish wicked motorists for driving to work he could bring in tolls on ultra-congested roads such as the M25 and M6. Why waste billions on hardware when ministries are incapable of even operating their own software? That, however, is almost trivial: what should drive motorists really mad is the intrusion. Wherever you are, the government will know. So if you are bunking off work or just heading for a solitary stroll on a salty beach, fear not, your secret is safe with the secretary of state for transport. What with ID cards and police cameras, your every move is tracked.
And then companies will join in the fun. Already they electronically tag workers. They also insert microchips in their products to keep tabs on customers. We are all, it seems, suspects now.
At least sad exhibitionists on Big Brother enjoy being ogled — the rest of us just want our privacy back.
This is the real death of liberal England. How those enemies of freedom, the mad bad mullahs, must be laughing — oops, we won’t be able to say that when the new legislation on religious hatred is passed.
But who is protesting? The often sensible Mark Oaten of the Liberal Democrats struggles to be heard, and aside from one thoughtful leadership contender, David Davis, many Tories are alarmingly authoritarian. The state, bloated on tax but bereft of real ideas, is a juggernaut out of control. And we cowering citizens are being crushed under its wheels.
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/article/0, ... 02,00.html