Liberal MPs seek changes to Green Shift plan

(Read in Dion-eese)
.. but we must save de planet..


But what is this????



Looks like someme Liberal campaign manager better take sick leave soon..

People in the UK are beginning to see the light about green taxes

http://www.dailyexpress.co.uk/posts/view/58759

GREEN TAX CON COSTS YOU A FORTUNE


By Gabriel Milland

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FAMILIES are being ripped off by an average of �783 a year through Gordon Brown�s bogus �green" taxes, it emerged yesterday.

Hard-pressed households are being forced to pay far more than necessary in motoring taxes and council tax bills as well as a raft of other measures allegedly imposed to cover the cost of pollution.

In total, taxpayers had to hand over �19.6billion too much in so-called green taxes last year � and lower-income households are being hit hardest, said a report.

�With the credit crunch squeezing budgets, people can ill afford this extra tax grab. It�s dishonest and unjust.

�The Government are talking about raising taxes even further, but our conclusions show that green taxes should be kept as they are or cut.�

The biggest green tax in the last financial year was fuel duty, which raised a total of �24.9billion. It is set by the Treasury and paid at the pump.

Vehicle Excise Duty, due to soar for many drivers depending on the carbon emissions of their cars, was next with �5.6billion.

The Landfill Tax on rubbish raised �0.9billion, the Climate Change Levy � a tax on industry�s use of energy � added �0.7billion to fuel bills while the Renewables Obligation, which forces power companies to buy more expensive energy from �green� sources such as wind, added �0.9billion.

The study excluded Air Passenger Duty because flights are not included in the United Nations assessment of national carbon emissions.

However, the researchers estimated that air travellers were being charged a total of more than �100million a year in duty.

With the �8.8billion spent on roads removed, that created a total green tax bill of �24.2billion last year, up from �22.7billion the previous year.

But the UN intergovernmental panel on climate change assessed the total cost of Britain�s entire output of greenhouse gases at �4.6billion for that year. It means we paid �19.6billion too much in green taxes, or �783.34 a household.

The Government�s own assessment of the �social� cost of greenhouse gases, based on guessing how much warmer temperatures will supposedly cost the country in storm damage, infectious diseases and flooding, is �16.3billion. Even that lower figure still means families being overtaxed by �7.9billion, equivalent to �315.81 a household.

Green taxes also penalise different areas of the country differently. People in Maldon on the Essex coast pay �607 above what they should, while residents of Camden in central London pay �62 extra.

A total of just five local authorities in the country do not pay excess taxes � compared to 429 that do. The TaxPayers� Alliance also found that the taxes hit poorer people hardest because they use the biggest proportions of their income to run an essential car or heat their homes.

The taxes also damage the competitiveness of business. Faced with extra costs, employers prefer to move their factories to countries where they will not be hit by green taxes, removing any incentive for them to go greener.

The TaxPayers� Alliance also point out that despite the massive burden of green taxes, there has been little progress in cutting emissions. They have held steady at 555million tones for the last three years, up on the total of 549million tones in 1997 despite the tax increases.

The report says: �People pay for electricity, motor fuel and other goods subject to green taxes with income that has already been taxed, companies that pay green taxes also pay corporation tax, and most green taxes are accompanied by VAT.� A Treasury spokesman said fuel duty was not a green tax. Traffic, noise and other environmental pressures � not just carbon dioxide � explained why fuel was taxed heavily.

�The estimate of green taxes is wrong as it includes taxes used to fund core public services rather than simply offsetting the cost of CO2,� he said.

�For example, while fuel duty recognises the environmental costs of driving, it also pays for important public services, including new roads and public transport and efforts to tackle child poverty.�



Last night the Prime Minister and Chancellor Alistair Darling were accused of exploiting environmental concerns to justify a punishing new round of stealth taxes which critics branded �unfair and dishonest.�

Tory MP Philip Davies said: �More and more people are realising that green taxes have nothing to do with being green. They�re just an excuse to tax us more.

They�re just an excuse to tax us more


Tory MP Philip Davies


�They�ve got more to do with a greedy Government that is trying to fill a black hole in its finances.� Researchers from the TaxPayers� Alliance used estimates from international experts which calculate the financial cost of carbon emissions to compile their report.

Spokesman Matthew Sinclair said: �Green taxes are set far higher than is necessary to pay for our carbon footprint, which loads an unfair burden on to hard-pressed families and businesses.

No response from Dion's tax masochists here ?