Bright Blue; “A deep intellectual gene pool for the Conservative Party’s future”.
Emission Impossible, a ‘jaunty’ take on the classic TV programme, or later film series, in which the good guys wrestle the bad guys, before self-destructing. Clearly, in this case, the ‘bad guys’ are car owners, and the good = Conservative politicians. The plot encompasses all topics that register ten on the ‘devious politician’ scale; Brexit, stealth tax, cash cows, anti-pollution, emissions and car ownership.
Sadly, this isn’t the latest plot for a new blockbuster, but yet another ridiculous political report, dressed up with environmental concerns and expense for the motorist, only this time, it’s the turn of the right-wingers.
Meeting all legal requirements
Buried within the 130-pages is the statement that “The UK currently meets all its legal requirements on air pollutants, except for hourly and annual limits on NO2”, you also find that their graphs show a very real decline in kilotonnes of emissions, since 1970 to present-day – NOx, for example, has gone from around 8,900 kilotonnes since 1970, to approximately 1,800 kilotonnes today.
This isn’t a marginal decline, or a ‘trend’, this is a steady decline, consistent and proven, with a blip in the early 90s that lasted for a few years.
And yet despite their evidence to the contrary, Bright Blue is recommending a number of proposals, all aimed at the private and commercial motorist, that will make vehicle ownership even more expensive than it is already, and encourage a number of potentially nefarious activities to boot.
The car is the answer
In 2016, cars attributed 16.5% of the UK’s total NOx emissions, LGVs and HGVs accounted for 15.5%, buses and coaches made up 1.7% and motorcycles and scooters accounted for just 0.1% – a total of 33.8% of the total NOx.
That leaves a whopping 66.2% to account for; aviation weighed in at 21.5%, railways were 3.9% and shipping … 40.8% – more than the total road transport combined. And yet, once again, it’s the motorist that’s paying the price.
And what a price that will be.
Some “Bright” ideas
In amongst the proposals set-out by Bright Blue, there are a number of them that should be of concern to us all, although if you’re a diesel motorist (on the back of the recommendations of the government of the time), you may want to stop reading now.
Diesel Duty
Along with abolishing the fuel duty freeze (in place since 2010), Bright Blue say that diesel motorists should have an extra tax added to their fuel – a ‘Diesel Duty’.
Diesel Excise Duty
Not content with adding extra tax to diesel fuel, it’s also recommended that diesel motorists have their own ‘Diesel Excise Duty’ instead of the regular VED that we currently pay.
Profiteering councils
All councils should be allowed to profit from their charges for the pollution charging schemes they introduce, and we’ve all seen how their profiteering works when it comes to parking charges.
Public reporting
Under the new proposals, members of the public will be tasked with reporting vehicles that spend time idling unnecessarily. This isn’t a terrible idea, aside from the fact that they’ll be rewarded with a share of the spoils – a percentage of any fines levied for the offence.
Speed limit reduction
Lastly (although there are more proposals in the document), a recommendation for all urban areas to have the speed limits changed from 30mph to 20mph. Again, we’ve reported on this numerous times, and quite frankly, it’s a ridiculous notion that doesn’t work, unless working in conjunction with a number of other measures, and even then, it only works under very strict criteria.
Air pollution
Once again, no one denies that air pollution needs work, but we’re cleaner than we ever have been, and it’s a continuous downward slope. Further, evidence suggests that vehicles are cleaner than ever, with most modern diesels polluting less particulate matter than the equivalent petrol-engined counterpart. None of these proposals look to incentivise giving up the car, and it’s solely reliant on penalising the motorist for revenue.
They even state that councils should be able to profit from it. This isn’t stealth tax; this is purely about revenue generation for greed.
Why can’t the commercial entities such as aviation or shipping be held accountable? The simple fact is that as a nation, we’re reliant on our car; public transportation is often ineffectual or expensive (usually both), we’ve built a society of out of town retail parks, entertainment and leisure facilities. Thanks to punitive taxes leaving businesses struggling or going to the wall, full-time employment can often mean an hour’s commute each way to get to work.
Yes, if you manage to live your life without a vehicle, if you cycle or walk everywhere, and have no need for a car, that’s great news, but you’re in the minority. So while that lifestyle may work for you, that doesn’t necessarily mean that works for everyone.
What do you think to the proposals? Is this just another money-making scheme? Or do you see a real benefit from it? Let us know in the comments.
As ever, this will have zero effect on pollution levels but will give politicians a bit more money to waste on vanity projects. I really cannot describe the depth of my loathing for the money-grabbing beggars [not the word I wanted to use!]
Absolutely. This is a deliberate way of inflicting economic damage on people so that the are forced to cut back and cannot afford things considered treats or luxuries. This is standard Modis Operandi of UK corporation government which does exactly that to entire countries under something called sanctions which is yet again exactly what they to do benefit claimants. Yet MPs and Lords are typically well connected amd very well off.
Once the government told us to buy diesel cars then Europe says the air quality from diesel is polluting our air so we buy cars with less pollutants like euro 6 diesels personly I have just changed over to a euro 6 diesel at the cost of thousands of pounds now the bright sparks of the conservites wants to tax us more. Who ever thought up the name of the Conservative party where quite correct they are CON’S
I hope you don`t think that any other party would be any better.
Was in Europe recently, and every country I was in had cheaper fuel than us. Scandalous.
Same old ideas from politicians hit the motorist well someone has to pay for aLL
there lying and cheating but they won’t pay a bean they do not live in the real world where the rest of have proper jobs and where no matter how hard we work no one comes along to tell us how to fiddle expenses so we don’t pay for anything the same as that lazy devious shower of politicians I bet they will still be driven around in the big gas guzzler cars and like Corbyn who constantly tell us to cut back but creates in one year more pollution than ordinary people do in there lifetime.
Just wondered why you hold corbyn up as an example of someone running around in gas guzzlers? He’s mostly on a push bike when I’ve seen him on the news!
I’m thinking it’s time everyone WOKE up and realise it’s the fat cash cat Tories that have let’s face it, sold off all the public owned industrial and service assets etc, mostly to themselves.
They’ve nothing left to sell now and so need to find more money from the poorer classes yet again! What astounds me is why everyone keeps voting for the Tories after all the damage they’ve done. Open your wallets everyone!
Politicians and experts seem the worst for solutions as they overlook the workarounds.
There is also the fact that these so called experts have overlooked and that is if a vehicle whether it be petrol or diesel was to travel a measured mile at 30mph and then do the same mile at 20mph the amount of pollutants over the 20mph mile will be greater than at the 30mph mile, the reason being is that the gear ratio used to do the mile is different to each other but the engines revs are the same producing more pollutants over the 20mph mile as the vehicle would be travelling slower hence taking longer to complete the mile, I’m no mathematician but any experienced driver will be able to work it out.
Once again the motorist is a cash machine for those that think that they are powerful
I live two miles from my nearest town and there is no public transport whatsoever, (thanks to a conservative government deregulating the buses in the 1980s). I am 60 years old with severe knee problems. I assumee I’m supposed to hobble to the shops for my groceries and carry them all back by hand. The hard pressed motorist is the cash cow the government turn to first when it wants money. There are over 20 million vehicles on UK roads, why aren’t we organising ourselves and rebelling against what is nothing more than victimisation.
There is nothing liberal nor conservative about these authoritarian ideas. These people are advocating control, taxation and submission to the state.
Again more revenue for the already greedy councils. Perhaps CEOs should have thier salaries decreased across the board instead of putting the onus on the motorists. Aircraft & Shipping should be included in a levy if motorists are being hit as well. The Government should be fined for giving out the wrong advice and heads should roll as it was the Government that recomended we should buy Deisel cars and now they are renegading on this. Whoever put this recomendation forward should be named and shamed and held to account. One consolation is that if this did go through then it will have a effect when it comes to voting.
Also if we count the number of councillors (there are 3 for my ward) per council and the number of councils in England alone all turning up for their so called council meetings with the majority using cars (on expenses of course) that all adds up to a great deal of pollutants being spread by the same people who decry the motorist for it, and then these same people advocate more speed ramps which slow everything down except the engine revs hence more pollutants, and then they brag that they are a green supporting council?? WHERE???
So have a go at Gordon Brown then….
Overall, article supports correct view, however still gets statistics badly wrong. For example:
“In 2016, cars attributed 16.5% of the UK’s total NOx emissions, LGVs and HGVs accounted for 15.5%, buses and coaches made up 1.7% and motorcycles and scooters accounted for just 0.1% – a total of 33.8% of the total NOx.
That leaves a whopping 66.2% to account for; aviation weighed in at 21.5%, railways were 3.9% and shipping … 40.8% – more than the total road transport combined. And yet, once again, it’s the motorist that’s paying the price.”
So what you described is “pie chart” of transportation NOx pollution, where cars contributes 16.5, LGV… 15.5% and so on. That adds up to ~100% of TRANSPORTATION ONLY NOX!!!!!! But wait – what about all the other source?!
This misleading statistics has been used times and times again to blame everything on motorists! Why? Because transportation is not the only source of pollution. Overall, transportation contributes about 10% of all pollutants (NOx, CO2, soot, PP etc.). So 100% of transportation pollution equates to only 10% of THE POLLUTION. For example another major NOx polluter is gas central heating at home. That alone is estimated to be 14%… so the graph now goes beyond 100%?! No, but “Statistic” you mentioning is just part of the part of the par of all pollution. If you take whole pollution where transportation contributes approximately 10%, then the cars actually pollutes 16.5% OF THE 10% or 1.65% overall!
Same goes for CO2… we see all these massive %, but they all are just sub division of sub division.. and in the end cars actually contributes only ~2.4% CO2. This is the way to play statistics and play ignorant people. You clearly have fallen on the same catch here.
Sorry, could you repeat all that again please.
But isn’t aviation and shipping also transportation? Surely transport is the movement of people and good from one place to another, so your use of the statistics is incorrect
Take away the politicians company cars and issue them with bikes. Take away free or subsidised public transport and force them to pay the same fares as everyone else. Two residences? One in the country and a pad near ‘work’? Sorry mate, you Can’t have both, haven’t you heard there is a housing shortage……………
it’s time the tory party come into the real world. instead of thinking up these rediculous ideas.
Think you’ll find this is a cross-party committee bunch of airheads, not just the Con’s
Another stupid idea by the willy head brigade, if fuel goes up so will all the goods in the shops as I can’t see my boss an others like him not passing on the cost of fuel duty to our customers who in turn will have to get it back from you the shopper! Nice one, so I’ll get spanked 3 times, more expensive fuel for car, more expensive food and no pay increases because of expensive fuel. I’m off to find guy falkes because someone needs to get these idiots out of their powerful positions.
House hold heating systems emit nox… why is that never included in the statistics… why are households never made to clean up thier emissions the same seas motorists?
The fools né idiots in the Think Tank and ALL plloticians need drowning in the ‘tank’. Think of all the money that would save the nation, as well as the fuel not used by the cars that the public pay to have filled for them…plus the money recouped from the sales of their unneccessary 2nd homes.
Long live the revolution l say.
Totally agree , this would be another stealth tax disguised as a falsely dirty diesel campaign.
I work 12 miles away which is 24 miles 5 times a week no busses and I start early,I drive a diesal,I don’t pay car tax,if they come out with congestion charges why should I pay to go back to my own home,and they are saying cars from 2015 onwards will get it free yet mine is 2014 and don’t blow our any emissions,it’s an easy way to make money, everything will stop won’t be able to have our freedom, businesses will go, restaurants will shut down,and other places like museums as people won’t want to go out,as won’t be able to afford to go anywhere because of paying congestion charges,I live in Portsmouth and we are small not a big place it’s to fill the council’s pension fund!!!!!
Cars and vans etc. MUST betaken off the roads one way or another >TOO many cause pollution congestion so the numbers MUST be reduced
So how do supermarkets get their supplies – parcels get delivered around the country etc. ????????????????????????
Money making scheme
How about dropping VAT back to 17.5% as it was only temporary to raise it anyway. Still waiting, tick tock tick tock…………
What ever happens you will NOT stop some people using their cars to drive anywhere or anywhere whatever it costs They will pay a fortune just to drive their polluting congestion causing tin boxes .Are you one of those ??
I find it strange that they scream so much about pollution from cars but allow thousands of trees to be cut down for 5G then start planting ‘some’ trees in other areas. Does this make sense?