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'£40 tax' for driving from Edinburgh to Glasgow

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Published Date: 27 February 2007
THE journey from Edinburgh to Glasgow could cost drivers £40 under government plans to introduce road charging, Alex Salmond claimed yesterday.
Launching tax-disc style stickers displaying the slogan "No Toll Tax", the SNP leader likened the plan to charge up to £1.28 per mile on busy main roads, such as the M8, to the poll tax.

He said Liberal Democrat support for bringing in the scheme
before the rest of the country would make Scotland a "guinea pig", just as the Conservative government had introduced the poll tax north of the Border in the Eighties.

"A toll tax to drive on Scotland's roads would be an expensive, bureaucratic nightmare. It would hit every Scottish family - and hit the poorest hardest," he said.

However, the Lib Dems and Labour said no prices have been decided for the scheme, which is at a very early stage and costs would be balanced by cuts to road tax and lower rates for people in rural areas.

George Foulkes, the deputy chairman of Labour's election campaign, said: "What the government is proposing is a debate on road pricing, because congestion costs us £22 billion a year."

Annabel Goldie, the Scottish Tory leader, said the SNP was slow in speaking out.

Scotland's worst Road, page 20



Page 1 of 1

  • Last Updated: 26 February 2007 9:11 PM
  • Source: The Scotsman
  • Location: Edinburgh
  • Related Topics: Road tolls
 
1

...G,

27/02/2007 00:22:03

More SNP make-believe.
They think we'll believe anything.
They know they haven't got a hope.

2

Bill, Dunblane,

27/02/2007 00:51:38

1 - ...G

And you believe Labour and their partners in crime, the Lib Dims?

May - It's time.

3

Ginster's Pastie,

27/02/2007 01:21:50

SNP are just as laughable as the cretins Labour padded the Scottish Parliament with.

Whoever gets in will make an arse of things with their various dogmas.

We need pragmatic guys and gals in charge, not sound-bite spouters.

4

Bill, Dunblane,

27/02/2007 01:24:22

3 - Ginster

Would that be ex military and business types?

i.e. unelectable, but sure of their destiny?

5

Mr Thai Land,

Bangkok 27/02/2007 03:07:19

#3 Ginster's Pastie: You might be right about the SNP being just as bad but the fact of the matter is that the opinion polls and media coverage suggest that the people are fed up with poor government from Labour and the Liberals in London and Edinburgh.

That being the case, there is only one option in both places.

At Westminster only the Tories can replace Labour.

At Holyrood only the SNP can replace Lib/Lab.

Whilst I agree that the Tories and Liberals have proven that they do not offer anything different, the SNP has never been tried by the Scots yet. It is completely daft not to elect them in May as they are the only viable alternative.

You never know, they might actually do something good. As we saw from Tony Blair and his 1997 government, power changes politicians.

As an outsider I see a phenomenal amount of discontentment amongst Scottish voters. I see people wanting real change and not just tinkering around the edges and presenting the same policies with a different coloured rosette.

Voting SNP seems to be the only option for those Scots who want real change (and that does not necessarily equate to independence). It might not work, but you won’t know until after you have tried it.

6

Desperate Dan,

planet earth 27/02/2007 04:25:35

Alternatively we could make voting compulsory and add a "None of the above" X to the ballot paper. That would put the cat amongst the pigeons.

7

Gnasher,

27/02/2007 04:49:09

Alex Salmond - making your flesh creep.

8

Navvy,

27/02/2007 05:14:31

The same civil servants would be making the same mess of things in an independent Scotland.

Magic! bring on the road pricing

BUT spend now on the strength of this projected income for a dedicated NEW high speed railway from Waverley to George Square in 25 minutes. As a bonus, build a new "Scotland International Airport" at Shotts on the same new railway, 15 minutes from either city. Close Turnhouse and Abbotsinch

9

Conan,

Here 27/02/2007 08:11:20

Excellent - Scotland's competitors will love this 'own goal'.

10

maestra,

27/02/2007 08:25:17

plenty of trains between edinburgh and glasgow

11

Colin G,

Edinburgh 27/02/2007 09:01:45

Drunk and disorderly George Foulkes suggests that congestion costs £22bn a year.

Obviously this estimate is nonsense, not measurable and ridiculous.

But if it is not, then why have drunk and disorderly Baron George's Labour colleagues in Edinburgh pushed through a programme of congestion creation in the past 15 years? Why aren't more roads being built on the few routes in Scotland which are congested? Why are the Labour Party desperate to know the movements and associations of people?

12

jim lad,

the capital 27/02/2007 09:10:09

What a load of SNP garbish, is it £40 one way? rhetoric rhetoric rhetoric. Keep going Salmond you will turn more and more people off.

13

Edward,

27/02/2007 09:13:23

'George Foulkes, the deputy chairman of Labour's election campaign, said: "What the government is proposing is a debate on road pricing, because congestion costs us £22 billion a year." '
Senile George plucking figures to do with UK congestion in cities to justify road charging
He seems to be getting confused between Congestion charging, as it happens in London and Road charging. Congestion charging is to attempt at reducing city (any city) congestion, where as Road charging is just another tax without reason

14

Jeeemy,

in dreich scotland 27/02/2007 09:32:35

A well " George" thinks we have as short memories as he has.
"George" when he is on the sauce generally ends up in the gutter, when spoken to by the polis " Geoge" starts of with the phrase " Do you know who I am"
and just like his quotes from his suppliers of " sauce" need a lot of water with he needs a lot of spce for his hot air. and at £200 a day he is quiet expensive with it as well.

15

bill-alba,

Fife 27/02/2007 10:13:07

Jim Lad...so you think that the Lib/lab government won't introduce tolls...even if they say they will????

The SNP hopefully will continue to point out what is going on..if you don't believe them...then you will continue to be very surprised when lib/lab intruduce these type of charges...

e.g. The people of Edinburgh voted for no charging..so the lib/lab people are looking at every conceivable way to intruduce charges...

16

jim lad,

the capital 27/02/2007 11:58:57

#15 bill-alba
No i agree with you 100% but still say Salmond is full of crap

17

CanScott,

Ottawa Canada 27/02/2007 12:06:55

We and thousands of other Canadian tourists were planning a trip to Scotland for this summer.

The proposed tax per mile has made us change our minds.

I suppose 'tax grabs' trump hospitality.

We will take out tourist dollars somewhere else.

A recently published book was entitlted "Antisocial Drivers". Another book is required "Antisocial Politicians".

18

why can't I use my own name???,

27/02/2007 14:03:40

HAve they thought of the knock-on effect this tax will have upon ALL industry? No, they can' possibly have.

19

EG,

27/02/2007 14:59:03

The MSP numpties probably don't care about the cost to the average person - they won't be disadvantaged as they will just claim it all back in their expenses

20

One-man-bucket's older twin,

27/02/2007 16:19:49

Once Wee Joke has moved al the jobs from Edinburgh to Glasgow, he can just pull up the drawbridge. Congestion won't be an issue.

21

val,

27/02/2007 17:00:22

if more jobs were located away from edinburgh or glasgow their roads would not be congested. investment in rest of scotland would allow more free flowing transportation for everyone, including businesses.

congestion is only a problem in 'rush hours'-flexible hours for most would help too-but only if guaranteed a place to park when you do go in a bit later. if i leave home ten minutes late it takes twice as long to get to work and find a parking spot-although i live not very far from work the buses are not frequent enough nor do they allow school pick ups etc. for a working mum.

a tax on car users with no alternative but to drive to reach work in a reasonable commute will not win voters.

22

geekpie,

forfar 27/02/2007 17:58:02

The SNP are becoming very puerile in their mischief making on transport issues.

Alex Salmond looks like an overweight bruiser in a 4WD and needs to be priced off the road.

23

Brad,

Glasgow 27/02/2007 19:51:53

#22, not many jobs have been moved to Gla from Ed (a couple of thousand?), and these are insignificant compared to the tens of thousands generated in the city over the past 10 years. Why shouldn't Scotland's largest city have a fair share of its Government's jobs anyway?

#23 there's plenty investment in the rest of Scotland. Businesses locate in Gla+Ed because that's the best place for them to be: nothing's stopping them from going to Livingston or Eurocentral but they (generally) don't want to. I agree that some lateral thinking on congestion would help though.

24

Crank Parent,

http://www.indigospring.co.uk 27/02/2007 20:56:25

We are a small family run IT Consultancy based from home in Livingston. A road tax on the M8 would put us out of business, not least because 4 out of 5 of our children are at school in Edinburgh and at these prices it would cost us £80 a day just to get the kids to school far less visit any of our customers (who are all over Scotland)!

25

robbie runciman,

lydd 27/02/2007 22:56:53

Crank parent, the answers simple, move house and reduce your environmental footprint. The canadians, don't you have toll roads there? no choice but to use the car, if only public transport was better, what about business. Basically the same old pile of doodoo the car lobby produces when someone suggests paying for a resource they exploit. Road tolls on the M8 would be like paying for parking, such space is limited so why not pay to use it.


 

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