[Gllug] [OT] Fighting a virus

[Jason Johns]

It's not just about efficient taxation. There are civil liberties issues
involved too. If this had been suggested 15 years ago I would have felt
uncomfortable about the scheme but now.... no way!

Even if you trust the police and our upright honest government, the people
administrating the scheme will doubtless be poorly paid and will therefore
have a strong incentive to make additional cash via, for example, selling
information to journalists and private detectives.
I'm not too concerned about information being passed to other agencies via
some grand all-encompassing IT system because the Government seem to find it
quite difficult to make such systems work.

Road pricing (afaik) is not really to reduce motorised transport's impact on
the environment. It is designed to ensure that the people who pay for the
upkeep and extension of the road network are the people wot use it. Seems
sensible but..

1 - We all 'benefit' from the road network, even if we don't use it
directly. I don't drive but friends and colleagues shuttle me around - why
should they pay not me? If I need police assistance or an ambulance to
hospital, is it fair that others pay for the network that makes this
possible?

2 - Does anyone really think that the government sees road pricing as
anything more than an extra source of revenue or has any intention of
ensuring that the funds raised through road pricing are actually used to
improve the roads or public transport? Sure there'll be a few
headline-grabbing initiatives  but.....

3 - IMHO, the time and money needed to set up the scheme (ensuring that
every vehicle in the UK is fitted with a tracking device + putting the
backend systems in place is a huge task that will doubtless be delivered
fit-for-purpose, on time and under budget with consultants receiving only
modest rewards) would be better used combating tax and benefit fraud.

It's a shame that the present government seem to prefer grand schemes to
just getting the basics right. Is it coincidence that the work needed to
implement their hubris is farmed out to the companies that senior civil
servants, ministers and aides seem to end up working for when they leave
office?

ta

j



On 17/02/07, Richard Jones <rich at annexia.org> wrote:
>
> On Fri, Feb 16, 2007 at 03:50:47PM +0000, Aaron Trevena wrote:
> > Yup - and even green fuels are taxed heavily - bio-diesel is still
> > taxed punitively despite being pretty much free of pollution.
>
> Yes, this is a ridiculous example of non-joined-up government, with
> parts of govt saying it should be taxed much lower and the treasury
> imposing punitive taxes anyway.  There really is no reason on earth
> why _anyone_ who drives a diesel car shouldn't be running on 50% SVO.
>
> Rich.
>
> --
> Richard Jones
> Red Hat UK Limited
>
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> Gllug mailing list  -  Gllug at gllug.org.uk
> http://lists.gllug.org.uk/mailman/listinfo/gllug
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>
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