As we mentioned at the end of last week, there’s surprisingly little focus on motoring in the main party manifestos for the upcoming UK election. Meanwhile, as widely reported, the AA are concerned that petrol prices continue to creep upwards when a recent oil price fall should really see them going in the opposite direction.
Although there’s not a huge amount of motoring focus in the election campaigning (at least not yet), there are some key points to note, which have recently been summarised in an article on Car Buyer.
The Conservatives recently announced a continued freeze on fuel duty, so this could be expected to continue if they gain a majority vote (and probably if the same coalition remains in power too). The Conservatives have also made more firm promises than the other parties, including £15 Billion in road investment, with specific attention paid to the A1, A303 and A27.
The Labour party manifesto says little about motoring, and pays more attention to the public transport infrastructure, particularly with regards to strong support for the HS2 train line.
The Liberal Democrats and the Green Party are both taking an environmentally focussed approach. The Greens, in particular, say they will divert much of the £15 Billion the Tories plan to spend on new roads on public transport instead. They would also reduce residential speed limits to 20mph. The Liberal Democrats primary motoring-related policies relate to emissions, including a revamp of the way that car tax is calculated.
Finally, UKIP have some rather different ideas, including the removal of road tolls “where possible,” and the abolition of both hospital parking fees and tax on cars over 25 years old.
While it’s interesting to hear the different approaches the parties say they’d take, it’s important to remember that it’s extremely unlikely that the minor parties plans will ever move beyond rhetoric, as the polls make clear that they will never gain complete power. Furthermore, a hung parliament and another coalition looks increasingly likely, meaning compromises on the manifestos are a very real possibility
On that basis, it’s probably not wise to decide who to vote for based on any of the party’s motoring policies!
IMAGE CREDIT: Pixabay