Retrospective Car Tax

Dear Malcolm,

I am writing on behalf of David Cameron to thank you for your email regarding Vehicle Excise Duty.

We are grateful to you for taking the time to get in touch and for giving us your views.

As you know, the Government plans to raise tax retrospectively on over 80 percent of cars bought since 2001. Raising taxes on cars after people have actually bought them cannot influence behaviour or promote greener driving. This measure is therefore not a genuine green tax. Rather, we believe this is an attempt to raise taxes by stealth on motorists, and so we are opposed to it.

The Environment is a vital issue – we have a responsibility in this generation to make sure we provide a greener and cleaner planet for our children. We simply cannot go on as we are in terms of the way we run Government and live our lives. We want to create incentives for people to help them make greener choices.

We are prepared to make tough choices. We have been honest, and have said very clearly that taxes on pollution will go up. Yet, those increases will be offset pound for pound by reductions in family taxes to help people meet the rising cost of living.

Our approach is completely different to Labour’s. Gordon Brown has given green taxes a bad name by using them as additional stealth taxes. We believe taxes on pollution can play an important role in tackling climate change, but only if they are replacement taxes, matched with tax reductions elsewhere. That is why we have established a family fund into which all of the new taxes on pollution will go. That money will be ring-fenced – no civil servant will be able to get their hands on it – and it will be independently audited. So, as taxes on bad things, like pollution, go up; taxes on good things, like families, will come down.

Once again, thank you for writing.

Yours sincerely,

Anna Biles

Correspondence Secretary
David Cameron's Office
House of Commons
London SW1A 0AA

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-----Original Message-----
From: malcolmcro@aol.com [mailto:malcolmcro@aol.com]
Sent: 29 July 2008 14:24
To: CAMERON, David
Subject: Email to David Cameron

Feedback submitted from the Conservative Party Website.

Name: Malcolm Crocker

Email: malcolmcro@aol.com

Postcode: OX33 1BX

Comments:

Help! I'm going back to Gordon!

At least he is making a small move on climate change with the car tax.

You are all talk and will lose the floating votes who want to see action on climate change.

Address: 163.1.39.127

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