Road pricing fiasco: Greens challenge Government to lead "genuine national debate"
14 February 2007
he Green Party today hit out at the government's handling of the debate surrounding road pricing
Green Party Principal Speaker Sian Berry said: "The Government has completely mishandled this issue.
"The British people have recognised the need for urgent action on tackling climate change. But the government is failing to make the case for the sensible measures that need to follow.
"Transport makes up almost a third of the UK's climate change emissions - and we need both better public transport, and tax measures to reduce demand and ensure we use less polluting vehicles. These could be fuel tax, road user charging, graduated vehicle excise duty or other measures. But which measures we choose - and how to ensure any money made pays for better public transport - needs to be the subject of genuine public debate
"The much vaunted e-petition calling for road pricing proposals to be abandoned is based on a tissue of lies. The motoring lobby has run a deliberate campaign of misinformation, clouding the issue - the Association of British Drivers, at the heart of the campaign to get signatures, even claim road pricing is anti-green! (1)
"What we're likely to see, though, is the government rolling over at the first sign of trouble. That's because they haven't created a positive debate, to make sure everyone understands why change is needed, and to find the fairest way of taxing pollution.
"The Green Party is calling for a genuine national debate: a sophisticated programme of road pricing can be accepted, if people know and believe that the money raised is helping to sort out public transport and that it doesn't penalise the worst off.
"We've got to stop thinking of "motorists" and start thinking about people who a need to travel to work every day in the most efficient and pleasant way possible. I don't think many motorist groups would argue that a stressful, wasteful gridlock every morning is the way forward.
"There must also be a real discussion about the civil liberties ramifications of tracking cars and guarantees that data used for road pricing does not get abused by other Government agencies. In London the congestion charge database is wiped every evening once it is checked against payment data, retaining only pictures of cars who haven't paid for enforcement purposes. How are the government going to ensure that routine tracking of cars doesn't amount to routine surveillance of citizens?"
ENDS
Notes for Editors:
(1) Association of British Drivers: "It's good for the planet"
"The government, clearly trying to hitch a lift on the tin god of political correctness, also claim that road pricing is 'green'. In fact it is anything but green. Road pricing is likely to persuade people to find an alternative (and longer) route on inferior roads, thereby increasing fuel conmsumption."
From (www.abd.org.uk
