thirdcrank wrote:I'm by no means a Daily Mail reader having never bought a copy, but there are some things for which I find it very useful, particularly reports of court cases. Here's one which the BBC briefly touched on today.
Life's too short. The point I'm making is that the Daily Mail is part of the news media and IMO sometimes a useful one. From what you have posted before IIRC, you feel that newspapers only use is for lining your parrot's cage and fair enough. Your opinion of the broadcast media seems broadly similar, if a bit less graphic. Just be aware that you are isolating yourself from a lot of information.
Hi all, Just read that Minister Gove wants to bring in the requirement for a landing permit obtained before travel in order to arrive on Kent soil? Sounds ok to me, after all a visa is often required for access to many countries! Maybe we could also copy the charges to use motorways that many countries employ?? I will confess ignorance as to what the full systems are, do vehicle owners in those countries have to pay the equivalent charge such as the V.E.D. applied here, then pay additional fees to use motorways, then it is certainly fair that we pay when we visit their country. But if it is a pick and mix that brings about inequalities then it should be looked at. I repeat again I know little on this matter, but why shouldn't folk who wreck he roads pay to maintain them regardless of location! Truth is I wish we could reverse the reliance on massive road miles employed for movement of goods, landed in lorries at coastal ports then erosive travel the length & breadth of the U.K. to go to other ports to travel to another country with ports! Why not cut out the worn down middle country? Switzerland has measures in place to limit the use of the country as a rat run, greener than the current model here! As usual shoot me down, well it is to be hoped that I might learn new stuff. MM
merseymouth wrote:Just read that Minister Gove wants to bring in the requirement for a landing permit obtained before travel in order to arrive on Kent soil?
It's an absolute disaster. New rules, new information management, new physical facilities. No details. And needs to be up and running in 100 days.
The hauliers and their associations are understandably livid.
merseymouth wrote:Maybe we could also copy the charges to use motorways that many countries employ?? I will confess ignorance as to what the full systems are, do vehicle owners in those countries have to pay the equivalent charge such as the V.E.D. applied here, then pay additional fees to use motorways, then it is certainly fair that we pay when we visit their country. But if it is a pick and mix that brings about inequalities then it should be looked at. I repeat again I know little on this matter, but why shouldn't folk who wreck he roads pay to maintain them regardless of location! Truth is I wish we could reverse the reliance on massive road miles employed for movement of goods, landed in lorries at coastal ports then erosive travel the length & breadth of the U.K. to go to other ports to travel to another country with ports! Why not cut out the worn down middle country? Switzerland has measures in place to limit the use of the country as a rat run, greener than the current model here!
Excellent questions.
As always I don't think we're going to improve things without an integrated transport policy. And a fair bit of that needs to be integrated with our neighbours.
There's a very helpful paper on options for motoring taxation from the Institute for Fiscal Studies: "A road map for motoring taxation" https://www.ifs.org.uk/publications/14407 https://www.ifs.org.uk/uploads/Presenta ... xation.pdf and it includes: "A system of road pricing where charges vary by time and location is the best way to incorporate the costs of congestion into the prices paid by drivers."
Jonathan
PS: It's usually wiser to think of public expenditure on roads not as being hypothecated from VED or other direct transport taxes but as coming from general taxation.
I can see why this topic is still of interest, however all that has gone before is in some ways, irrelevant - what matters now is what's going to happen...
S
(on the look out for Armageddon, on board a Brompton nano & ever-changing Moultons)