The new tipping point: UK motorists rebel against additional taxes by shutting down highways.
After hundreds of angry drivers shut down highways in England Tuesday in protest against green automobile taxes, and drivers and fishermen in France and Spain paralyzed their ports and roads in a fuel-tax protest, politicians began to signal Europe’s ambitious emission-control policies may soon have to be abandoned. While Europe has led the way in using tax incentives to encourage people to buy low-emission cars and to build carbon-neutral houses in order to meet Kyoto targets, it has become increasingly apparent that inflation-battered voters are no longer willing to go along. Political leaders in Britain and France are seeking the reversal of tax policies designed to make polluting vehicles more expensive, with French President Nicolas Sarkozy and some British ministers calling on their own governments and the European Union to relax ecologically friendly taxes in order to give relief to citizens suffering from fast-rising food and fuel prices.
—Doug Saunders, Globe and Mail, 28 May 2008
The fuel protests hammer home a clear message. After the 10p tax rebellion, the local elections, and the Crewe by-election, no one can doubt the mood of the country any more. There is insurrection in the air. The British people are ready for change and they don’t believe Labour can deliver it.
—Nick Clegg, The Daily Telegraph, 28 May 2008
Gordon Brown has been urged to stand firm against calls to abandon green tax rises on fuel as environmentalists warned that scrapping the proposals would risk undermining Britain’s drive towards a low carbon future and send the wrong message about the Government’s commitment to tackling greenhouse gas emissions. Amid fears that the gloomy financial outlook could sap the political will needed to combat climate change, Charlie Kronick, senior climate adviser at Greenpeace, said: “When they are willing to spend millions of pounds shoring up their vote in a by-election they can do this as well. How serious can they be about using the tax system to try to affect environmental outcomes when, if they are under political pressure, it is the first thing that goes?”
—Ben Russell, The Independent, 28 May 2008
Drivers should not be “hammered” by the Government, Cabinet Minister John Hutton declared yesterday in a clear sign of a road tax climbdown. The Business Secretary spoke out as senior Labour sources admitted planned increases of up to £245 a year that could hit millions of family car drivers were a “mistake”.
—Bob Roberts, The Mirror, 28 May 2008
Huge rises in road and petrol taxes for millions of motorists could be scrapped after two Cabinet ministers hinted at another U-turn in government policy.
After warnings from MPs that the party was alienating ordinary voters, Jack Straw and John Hutton suggested that the Pre-Budget report in the autumn would contain changes to plans set out by the Chancellor in March. But, in a further sign of government confusion, Downing Street and the Treasury insisted that no plans were being considered to revise the vehicle excise duty changes announced in the Budget.
—Philip Webster, The Times, 28 May 2008
[…] Trouble in the UK – A Green Tax Rebellion is Afoot […]
Not that tired old socialist slogan, “power to the people”….. But rather a more apt one for the Free market society.
” Power to the enterprising individuals of society, at the cheapest possible price….”
… Or else feed yer’selves…. : )
“The government works for the public, not the other way around.”
Exactly, the public as a whole… not sectional, selfish interests.
Sometimes you must temper your lofty ideals with the reality that you gotta break other people’s heads sometimes in order to keep yours safe.
What part of that is not a lofty ideal?
A rather naive post, and promoting liberal politics on top of that.
Taxes on oil products in Europe have existed long before Al Gore came to be a senator and Jimbo Hansen decided it was too hot inside his office. The main objective of these taxes is to hinder dependence on oil.
Of course in the US this has been made in a different fashion, and hence the much healthier economy of the country (and its currency) when compared to Europe.
C’mon Tone, leave the liberal politics at home and focus on climate and other important stuff.
Wasn’t the stated purpose of the run up in taxes on Petrol last decade was to suppress demand by increasing cost? I would think the people have a legitimate complaint, since I haven’t seen news of petrol taxes being scaled back with the increase of cost of oil.
EJ:
“Never, ever in the history of mankind was there less justification for revolution!”
“But this is so off topic that we really should just agree to disagree.”
Please, just issue a retraction; running away under the white flag only to mutter bravely out of earshot is so unseemly.
And while we’re covering that sort of behavior,
lads:
“A rather naive post, and promoting liberal politics on top of that.”
Opacity of intent when tossing out insults smacks of cowardice on this side of the pond.
Lads: “C’mon Tone, leave the liberal politics at home…”
I assume a typo (Tom not Tone). My last point on these off topic posts. Libertarians are not liberals. Libertarians believe in as little government as possible, and more specifically that the US government needs to go back to doing only those things that are allowed by the Constitution. including getting rid of the income tax. The most disturbing thing that I continually hear from politicians is that we the people are given rights by the government through the Constitution when that is 100% ass backwards. Through the Constitution, we the people have given our government limited powers over us in order secure our rights to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness.
“and focus on climate and other important stuff.”
If we do not focus on the politics involved in this climate change scam, we will all end up losers. The motivation for all this is redistributin of wealth and control over people. It is the politicians who hold all the cards at this moment so we had better indeed focus on them.
Please, just issue a retraction,/cite>
My pov is that the result was the best, most glorious thing that ever occurred in all of human history and probably saved human civilization..
But justification and result are not the same thing.
GREAT NEWS!
The cap-and-trade bill is DEAD. The senate realized it was one of those “10%-off-the-top” economic deals.
Chalk one up “for the children”. (Those who would otherwise have starved.)
All the taxes on fuel are completely mad.
Government says that it will raise taxes to make you use less fuel.
1. If it works, Government actually raises less tax.
2. If it fails Government should have a windfall to put away for a rainy day.
3. Government just blows the dough and raises fuel taxes for more – cos’ yopu cannot avoid paying it.
Big question for Governments and Enviros – where will all the missing tax going to come from if we stop driving cars/use tap water? Taxing motorists for using oil is one thing, taxing them for NOT using oil as a solution may be a little more difficult to sell.
At least for the first time in their lives Greenies will have to pay their fair share of running the country.
EJ:
Unjustified with respect to the Indian Mutiny, the Boxer Rebellion or the Mau Mau Uprising, perhaps.
Just thought I’d point out that one of those excerpts is from Nick Clegg.
For non-US readers (and most UK readers too!) he is the leader of the Liberal Democrats, the UK’s third political party. So his opinion may be somewhat biased!