Pay by mile - taxing road use?

[Jelster]

They can be used in such a way but should they be used in that way?

Why would a supposedly socialist government think it right to give a financial benefit to wealthier citizens, while placing an additional burden on poorer citizens? I base that question on the observation that wealthier citizens are much more likely to purchase electric vehicles than poorer citizens, who are most likely forced to buy older cars, which are in turn much more likely to have internal combustion engines.

Perhaps those able to purchase new electric cars should pay higher VAT on their cars, to be used as a subsidy to assist poorer people to buy electric cars, instead of petrol or diesel cars.

Because taxes, rather like sales commissions, are one way of driving behaviour. If you have a policy to change over to EV's, you simply tax the other options, so that people "choose" to behave in the manner you want. It ain't rocket science.....

 

[AndrewFlannigan]

If you have a policy to change over to EV's, you simply tax the other options, so that people "choose" to behave in the manner you want.

But why should we, the majority, permit you, the minority, to force us to do something,?

Isn't that fascism?

 

[AndrewFlannigan]

But one your in favour of I assume as 62% of people favour EV subsidies and in the Politics thread you think politicians should do what the public view is?

Which 62% is that?

Did anyone travel the length and breadth of the British Isles to ask every adult their opinion?

 

[AndrewFlannigan]

"is it a bribe?"

Like offering people feed-in tariffs to fit solar pv panels.

No more than giving the self-employed tax relief if they take out personal pensions. For example.

If it is a bribe it must be one of countless bribes offered by the Government to help persuade people to do what they want people to do.

Or to give yet another example, the massive "bribes" the government gives the fossil fuel companies to search for more oil and gas fields.

You have answered your own questions.

All those are bribes and all those bribes were intended to persuade the recipients to do things that benefitted them over others. For such things not to be bribes, the money would have to be given to every citizen equally, without any condition regarding its use.

 

[Pound Coin]

But why should we, the majority, permit you, the minority, to force us to do something,?

Isn't that fascism?

There's been a discussion elsewhere about this, which you were sometime involved in.

 

[cambsno]

Which 62% is that?

Did anyone travel the length and breadth of the British Isles to ask every adult their opinion?

You said that the government should do what the majority want.

Just think about how many laws and regulations need to be approved and then think how the governments will know what to do.

You can’t have it both ways. In this survey the majority agreed with ev subsidies. So the democratic thing is to continue.

 

[jerry12953]

But why should we, the majority, permit you, the minority, to force us to do something,?

Isn't that fascism?

 

[AndrewFlannigan]

In this survey the majority agreed with ev subsidies.

But not a majority of the whole population. In fact, probably a tiny fraction of 1%.

So the democratic thing is to continue.

On a matter of importance, you have to get the opinion of everyone, otherwise you just have a dictatorship of the minority.

 

[cambsno]

But not a majority of the whole population. In fact, probably a tiny fraction of 1%.

On a matter of importance, you have to get the opinion of everyone, otherwise you just have a dictatorship of the minority.

So how could the government do this in order to be democratic?

 

[Jelster]

But why should we, the majority, permit you, the minority, to force us to do something,?

Isn't that fascism?

Governments control, that's what they do. Your idea of 100% democracy is never going to work. We select MP's (through voting) to make decisions for us, based on the state of the nation. They do this through policies which are turned into plans, and then sometimes the government give favourable terms to early adopters to get the plan moving. Tax breaks and the like are there to drive the behaviour of the people.

I don't really care if you don't like it, it's called life. If you're not happy with how we do things, maybe you should emigrate to somewhere that will please you. The one thing the government don't do is force you to live here.

 

[Pound Coin]

So how could the government do this in order to be democratic?

It can't.

Not if 'democratic' means 50.01% of the population want it. We had this a few months ago - the suggestion that most decisions should be decided by referenda. As Jelster says in a reply to Andrew: "Your idea of 100% democracy is never going to work".