Gordon Brown, the cyclists' friend?

On Wed, 22 Mar 2006 13:10:49 -0000, "wafflycat"
<w*a*ff£y£cat*@£btco*nn£ect.com> said in
<[email hidden]>:

Quoted message said:

According to the BBC news site, Gordo has reduced VED on the least polluting
cars to zero.

Hah! Fantastic :-)

Guy
--
May contain traces of irony. Contents liable to settle after posting.
http://www.chapmancentral.co.uk

85% of helmet statistics are made up, 69% of them at CHS, Puget Sound

"Just zis Guy, you know?" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

On Wed, 22 Mar 2006 13:10:49 -0000, "wafflycat"
<w*a*ff£y£cat*@£btco*nn£ect.com> said in
<[email hidden]>:

Quoted message said:

According to the BBC news site, Gordo has reduced VED on the least
polluting
cars to zero.

Hah! Fantastic :-)

Guy

Just had a look at the actual Treasury document :-

"* a new higher band of graduated VED (band G), set at £210 for petrol cars,
will be introduced for the most polluting new cars (those above 225g of
carbon dioxide emissions per kilometre);

* the VED rate for the small number of cars with the very lowest carbon
emissions (band A) will be reduced to £0 to encourage take-up and assist the
development of the low carbon car market;

* VED rates will also be reduced for band B by £35 and C by £5, frozen for
bands D and E, and increased by £25 for band F;

* rates for pre-2001 registered cars and light goods vehicles in the lower
band will be frozen with the higher band increased by £5;

* the reduced rate of graduated VED for alternative fuel cars will be
extended to include those cars manufactured to run on high blend bioethanol
(E85); and

* In total, 50 per cent of cars will see their VED frozen or reduced.Three
million cars will pay VED of £100 or less."

So probably useless in terms of reducing pollution in any serious way, but
most excellent for we cyclists, as we can tell the petrolheaded morons that
they too, need not pay 'road tax' if they choose to drive a vehicle with the
very lowest carbon emissions...

Cheers, helen s

"wafflycat" <w*a*ff£y£cat*@£btco*nn£ect.com> wrote in message
news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

So probably useless in terms of reducing pollution in any serious way, but
most excellent for we cyclists, as we can tell the petrolheaded morons
that they too, need not pay 'road tax' if they choose to drive a vehicle
with the very lowest carbon emissions...

But are we even classed in band A? I've had a hunt, and we're not even on
the scale as far as I can see.

"elyob" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

"wafflycat" <w*a*ff£y£cat*@£btco*nn£ect.com> wrote in message
news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

So probably useless in terms of reducing pollution in any serious way,
but most excellent for we cyclists, as we can tell the petrolheaded
morons that they too, need not pay 'road tax' if they choose to drive a
vehicle with the very lowest carbon emissions...

But are we even classed in band A? I've had a hunt, and we're not even on
the scale as far as I can see.

Is not the point.

The point is there will be cars for which the owner does not have to pay
'road tax' to have on the road.. which effectively puts to an end any vague
link between 'road tax' giving the 'right' to be on the road as put forward
by moronic petrolheads.

Cheers, helen s

wafflycat said:

According to the BBC news site, Gordo has reduced VED on the least
polluting cars to zero.

For band A, up to 100g/km CO2 - how many vehicle models do you think
that covers? Precisely none in todays list of available cars.

The new higher band G for over 225g/km starts with the Audi TT Coupe,
the Skoda Superb 1.8 and the VW Passat 1.8 and continues with the Volvo
S60, the VW Beetle, the Vauxhall Astra 2.0i, the Peugeot 407 SW 2.2.

--
Matt B

wafflycat said:

"elyob" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

"wafflycat" <w*a*ff£y£cat*@£btco*nn£ect.com> wrote in message
news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

So probably useless in terms of reducing pollution in any serious
way, but most excellent for we cyclists, as we can tell the
petrolheaded morons that they too, need not pay 'road tax' if they
choose to drive a vehicle with the very lowest carbon emissions...

But are we even classed in band A? I've had a hunt, and we're not
even on the scale as far as I can see.

Is not the point.

The point is there will be cars for which the owner does not have to
pay 'road tax' to have on the road.. which effectively puts to an end
any vague link between 'road tax' giving the 'right' to be on the
road as put forward by moronic petrolheads.

Excellent. I'll try shouting this exchange at the next driver who excuses
intimidating me whilst I'm on my bike with the 'Road Tax' canard.
--
Ambrose

elyob said:

"wafflycat" <w*a*ff£y£cat*@£btco*nn£ect.com> wrote in message
news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

So probably useless in terms of reducing pollution in any serious way, but
most excellent for we cyclists, as we can tell the petrolheaded morons
that they too, need not pay 'road tax' if they choose to drive a vehicle
with the very lowest carbon emissions...

But are we even classed in band A? I've had a hunt, and we're not even on
the scale as far as I can see.

No, cyclists never had to pay vehicle excise duty.

Vehicles over twenty five years old and holders of disabled badges are
also exempt from VED so those drivers of don't pay "road tax" either.
Personally I'd like to see VED abolished and the taxation transferred
to a motor insurance tax. That way those with the most expensive cars
and or bad driving would pay more.
--
Phil Cook looking north over the park to the "Westminster Gasworks"

In article <[email hidden]>, Phil Cook

() said:

Vehicles over twenty five years old and holders of disabled badges are
also exempt from VED so those drivers of don't pay "road tax" either.

Actually it's on vehicles registered before 1st January 1973 - it was
changed in March 1998.

--
Dave Larrington - <http://www.legslarry.beerdrinkers.co.uk/>
Every establishment needs an opposition.

Phil Cook said:

elyob said:

"wafflycat" <w*a*ff£y£cat*@£btco*nn£ect.com> wrote in message
news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

So probably useless in terms of reducing pollution in any serious way, but
most excellent for we cyclists, as we can tell the petrolheaded morons
that they too, need not pay 'road tax' if they choose to drive a vehicle
with the very lowest carbon emissions...

But are we even classed in band A? I've had a hunt, and we're not even on
the scale as far as I can see.

No, cyclists never had to pay vehicle excise duty.

Vehicles over twenty five years old

No, that was abolished in 1998. Only cars first registered before 1973
are zero VED now.

--
Matt B

Dave Larrington said:

In article <[email hidden]>, Phil Cook

() said:

Vehicles over twenty five years old and holders of disabled badges
are also exempt from VED so those drivers of don't pay "road tax"
either.

Actually it's on vehicles registered before 1st January 1973 - it was
changed in March 1998.

Good job, too, since otherwise plenty of cars registered on 31st December
1980 could easily be made tolerably cheap, reliable and comfortable, and
then where would we be? Somewhere where the car was diminished as a status
symbol? Somewhere where we aren't a net exporter of cars.
--
Ambrose

"Matt B" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

wafflycat said:

According to the BBC news site, Gordo has reduced VED on the least
polluting cars to zero.

For band A, up to 100g/km CO2 - how many vehicle models do you think that
covers? Precisely none in todays list of available cars.

The new higher band G for over 225g/km starts with the Audi TT Coupe, the
Skoda Superb 1.8 and the VW Passat 1.8 and continues with the Volvo S60,
the VW Beetle, the Vauxhall Astra 2.0i, the Peugeot 407 SW 2.2.

<car nerd>

There's no such thing as a VW Passat 1.8 these days. I believe the 1.8
you're referring to is the 1.8 turbo, ie the high power one in the range.
Ditto on the skoda. Beetle too. 407 SW 2.2 is not in band G - 219g/km, it's
the V6 which is. The astra is the higher powered turbo version. The Volvo is
the autoboxed bigger engined version too - even the normal T5 misses it.

So your attempt to make out that normal cars fall into this band falls flat
on its face.

</car nerd>

clive

wafflycat said:

The point is there will be cars for which the owner does not have to pay
'road tax' to have on the road.. which effectively puts to an end any
vague link between 'road tax' giving the 'right' to be on the road as
put forward by moronic petrolheads.

I suspect that most moronic petrolheads who use this argument drive cars
that attract VED, so they will merely add the great unwashed,
sandal-wearing tree-huggers, and eco-terrorists, to their basket of
those who don't deserve the right to be on the road.

R.

Quoted message said:

The point is there will be cars for which the owner does not have to pay
'road tax' to have on the road.. which effectively puts to an end any
vague link between 'road tax' giving the 'right' to be on the road as put
forward by moronic petrolheads.

Yay!

Or perhaps the thinking will go that bigger more polluting vehicles have
more right to be on the road than little green cars. That would explain
some observed behaviour.

Matt B said:

wafflycat said:

According to the BBC news site, Gordo has reduced VED on the least
polluting cars to zero.

For band A, up to 100g/km CO2 - how many vehicle models do you think
that covers? Precisely none in todays list of available cars.

The Prius is close. 104g/k. Seems like an incentive to get it a bit
lower to me.

--
Keith Willoughby http://flat222.org/keith/
"Would the God who had made one of his top ten rules
Thou Shalt Not Kill really encourage people to go to war?"
Richard Herring

Keith Willoughby said:

Matt B said:

wafflycat said:

According to the BBC news site, Gordo has reduced VED on the least
polluting cars to zero.

For band A, up to 100g/km CO2 - how many vehicle models do you think
that covers? Precisely none in todays list of available cars.

The Prius is close. 104g/k. Seems like an incentive to get it a bit
lower to me.

But, let's face it, would you really want to be seen driving a car
/that/ ugly?

--
Phil Cook looking north over the park to the "Westminster Gasworks"

Phil Cook said:

But, let's face it, would you really want to be seen driving a car
/that/ ugly?

All modern cars are ugly -- it seems to be a design prerequisite these days.

Phil Cook said:

Keith Willoughby said:

Matt B said:

wafflycat wrote:
> According to the BBC news site, Gordo has reduced VED on the least
> polluting cars to zero.

For band A, up to 100g/km CO2 - how many vehicle models do you think
that covers? Precisely none in todays list of available cars.

The Prius is close. 104g/k. Seems like an incentive to get it a bit
lower to me.

But, let's face it, would you really want to be seen driving a car
/that/ ugly?

I'm not sure I would want to be seen driving any car. They're all pretty
ugly, when you get down to it. The ones outputting the least [censored] are
probably the least ugly, though.

--
Keith Willoughby http://flat222.org/keith/
Everybody knows that the boat is leaking
Everybody knows that the captain lied

wafflycat said:

Just had a look at the actual Treasury document :-

As posted El Swear:

Here are the results from the "Protecting The Environment" section:

- the word 'car' or 'cars' is mentioned 43 times, with another 16
instances of 'vehicle';

- 'charge', 'tax' and 'levy' occur a total of 108 times, whilst
'invest', 'grant' and 'rebate' manage 5 mentions;

- 'bus', 'coach', 'buses', 'train', 'rail', 'railway', 'walk', 'walking'
and 'cycling' occur not one single time;

- 'cycle' gets one single mention, referring to a 2001 measure which
reduced the rate of VAT for ... cycle helmets!

Draw your own conclusions...

--
Tony

"The best way I know of to win an argument is to start by being in the
right."
- Lord Hailsham

On Wed, 22 Mar 2006 14:10:50 -0000, "Ambrose Nankivell"
<[email hidden]> said in <[email hidden]>:

Quoted message said:

Excellent. I'll try shouting this exchange at the next driver who excuses
intimidating me whilst I'm on my bike with the 'Road Tax' canard.

Stick a sign on your back which says "BAND A". Good name for a band -
anyone here play the drums? Or are we all musical? <ducks>

Guy
--
May contain traces of irony. Contents liable to settle after posting.
http://www.chapmancentral.co.uk

85% of helmet statistics are made up, 69% of them at CHS, Puget Sound