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[theowletman]

151-160 Audi A3 2.0 Tdi (diesel), BMW 3-series 320i, Vauxhall Astra 1.4i 16v

This has to be a joke, do we really believe that a 1.4 astra's emissions are as high as 2.0 bmw or dirtier than a 2.0 audi diesel.

Someone really needs to look at these figures quoted, because I cannot believe it.

Mike

Modern diesels with high pressure common rail injection, i.e. HDi, DCi, TDCi, etc are much more efficient in the way they burn fuel, that's why the MPG is usually better. The CO2 figures are worked out before the cars are registered and the manufacturers obviously want them to be as low as possible. Last year driving back from Spain my mate in his new Passat TDi 140 got from Estartit to Zeebrugge ( 770 miles ) on one tank of derv, it took 64 litres to fill it up, 54mpg with a roof box on. I call that good. If you use less fuel the emissions are bound to be lower. I did the same journey in my 2.0 Miggy and it took 24litres more.

[Andy B]

.... in his new Passat TDi 140 got from Estartit to Zeebrugge ( 770 miles ) on one tank of derv, it took 64 litres to fill it up, ......

That's good. That's going to be more like 2 tanks in a petrol V6, even my crappy Astra 1.7 TD only manages about 45mpg - no matter what you do with it.

[Martin_1962]

I asked the opposition about this - no plans to put the tax back down - even though it will hurt their core supporters.

Told them thanks for making sure I do not vote for them  

So who is left?

[Kevin Wood]

Martin for PM  

[JamesV6CDX]

Martin for PM  

Kevin....

[Martin_1962]

Well I am now emailing all the smaller parties about my three deal breakers.

Mine are quite simple

Reverse back dating punitive road tax increases
No ID cards
Build a few new nuclear power stations rather than rely so much on imported gas.

Now a few years ago these policies would all be traditional conservative (small letter - not the party) policies, now one is claimed by socialists (small letter - not the party). The heavy tax policy has been stolen by the Conservatives from Labour. ID Cards - I think ONLY Labour want them.

As to votability - I am not a good example, too scruffy, even when smartly dressed, also I am not a suit.

I am afraid I am getting very cynical over politics, but when will they realise less buearacracy = less taxation required

[tunnie]

Martin for PM  

Kevin....

I signed the thingy for Clarkson for PM!  

[Kevin Wood]

I am afraid I am getting very cynical over politics, but when will they realise less buearacracy = less taxation required

You and me both, mate.

I haven't even started about the CAA trying to impose the fitting of £7K's worth of transponder in my glider just so they can extend their "surveillance society" to the air.

(and have low flying airliners all over the country into the bargain)

Problem is, a lot of this stuff has been devloved from government into unelected organisations who simply impose their will without caring how many people they upset because they don't have to win votes.

Kevin

[Elite Pete]

Well I am now emailing all the smaller parties about my three deal breakers.

Mine are quite simple

Reverse back dating punitive road tax increases
No ID cardsBuild a few new nuclear power stations rather than rely so much on imported gas.

Now a few years ago these policies would all be traditional conservative (small letter - not the party) policies, now one is claimed by socialists (small letter - not the party). The heavy tax policy has been stolen by the Conservatives from Labour. ID Cards - I think ONLY Labour want them.

As to votability - I am not a good example, too scruffy, even when smartly dressed, also I am not a suit.

I am afraid I am getting very cynical over politics, but when will they realise less buearacracy = less taxation required

It would'nt bother me having one, infact if it helps keep them that shouldn't be here out I would welcome them.

[Danny]

Well I am now emailing all the smaller parties about my three deal breakers.

Mine are quite simple

Reverse back dating punitive road tax increases
No ID cardsBuild a few new nuclear power stations rather than rely so much on imported gas.

Now a few years ago these policies would all be traditional conservative (small letter - not the party) policies, now one is claimed by socialists (small letter - not the party). The heavy tax policy has been stolen by the Conservatives from Labour. ID Cards - I think ONLY Labour want them.

As to votability - I am not a good example, too scruffy, even when smartly dressed, also I am not a suit.

I am afraid I am getting very cynical over politics, but when will they realise less buearacracy = less taxation required

It would'nt bother me having one, infact if it helps keep them that shouldn't be here out I would welcome them.

agreed!

[zippo]

I am afraid I am getting very cynical over politics, but when will they realise less buearacracy = less taxation required

You and me both, mate.

I haven't even started about the CAA trying to impose the fitting of £7K's worth of transponder in my glider just so they can extend their "surveillance society" to the air.
(and have low flying airliners all over the country into the bargain)

Problem is, a lot of this stuff has been devloved from government into unelected organisations who simply impose their will without caring how many people they upset because they don't have to win votes.

Kevin

i don't know a thing about your hobby Kevin, why has someone decided that theirs a need for gliders to have a tracker fitted

[Martin_1962]

Dear Martin,

Thank you for your recent message.

As you know, in the recent Budget the Chancellor of the Exchequer, Alistair Darling, announced the restructuring of Vehicle Excise Duty (VED) bands.  Currently there are seven bands ranging from Band A (for cars that emit up to 100gCO2/km) with a zero-rate VED, to Band G (for cars emitting more that 225gCO2/km) with a charge of £400 a year.  Under the changes announced in the Budget, a further six bands will be introduced with the most polluting cars being forced to pay a £440 a year charge and a first year rate of £950.

The Budget Red Book claims that the Chancellor's changes to VED will mean that 'the majority of motorists will be no better or worse off in 2009'.  However, of the 9.5 million cars which have paid the graduated VED since its creation in 2001, 6.6 million fell into bands D, E and F.  This means that 70 per cent of cars will be forced to pay a higher tax charge.  

Conservatives are conscious that we must all play our part in reducing the damage we do to the environment, but we would handle green taxes differently.  If the UK is to meet its responsibilities on reducing emissions, then we must tackle emissions from transport.  Carbon dioxide emissions from the transport sector currently account for 28 per cent of emissions in the UK, and of this, the majority comes from road transport.  As Conservatives have always argued, we must therefore encourage people to drive greener cars.

However, we believe that these kinds of taxes should be offset with tax reductions elsewhere.  This is based on the principle that the burden of taxation should be shifted away from "good" things - such as income and jobs - onto "bad" things such as pollution. Crucially, our approach is revenue-neutral, meaning that the overall tax burden will not rise. We will establish a "Family Fund" to ring-fence all additional revenues from taxes on pollution. This money will only be used to pay for reductions in other taxes, and to make sure that it is accountable, the "Family Fund" will be independently audited.

Thank you, once again, for taking the time and trouble to get in touch.

Yours sincerely,

Edward Young
Office of the Leader of the Opposition
House of Commons
London
SW1A 0AA

[Kevin Wood]

i don't know a thing about your hobby Kevin, why has someone decided that theirs a need for gliders to have a tracker fitted

There are pages and pages of boring consultation documents on the subject but the long and short if it is that whereas currently commercial air traffic uses controlled airspace to which gliders, prvate aircraft, hot air balloons, microlights, hang gliders, etc. have no or very limited access the plan is to allow us both to share the same airspace. This requires them to be able to reliably identify and track anything that flies in open airspace in the UK by radar, and route commercial aircraft away from it, hence the requirement to fit transponders.

This is being justified on the basis of a huge projected increase in commercial air traffic - so it'll really fit in with the government's commitment to halting "climate change"!

The other argument is that it will allow commercial airliners to fly much shallower approaches to major airports, saving them some fuel but meaning much larger areas of the country will be subject to low flying jets than is currently the case.

The hidden agenda that they won't admit to is that the government are committed to development of UAV (pilotless aircraft, which they'll no doubt use to spy on us). These clearly need to know what's around them because the pilot, and his eyes, have been removed from the equation. I suspect the prospect of robot aircraft flying around would not win them much public support, hence it being hidden.

So, we shell out £7k per aircraft (more than many gliders are worth), assuming it's even feasible to run this equipment from a battery (a glider has no other source of power) and the only benefit is to the airlines and BAA's coffers.

We won't be receiving information from air traffic control so there is no safety benefit to us. They could sit and watch 2 gliders collide on a  radar screen without being able to do anything about it.

Meanwhile, the gliding community has developed a system that can give real collision avoidance at a cost of 400 quid per aircraft.

Anyway, going way off topic now but as you can see this makes the road tax situation look positively inexpensive.

Kevin