BBC News: Thicko anger over piffling road tax rise

[Guest]

Greetings! Road tax has been the subject of much debate, mainly because of utter cretins like this: http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk_politics/7540815.stm

 

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A vicar has hit out at plans to raise car tax for "gas guzzling" vehicles, saying ministers "haven't got a clue" what it is like to be a poor motorist.

 

The Reverend Peter Cook says he cannot afford to replace his nine-year-old 1600cc Nissan Primera, which faces a tax rise from £185 to £200 in 2010.

 

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It's going up £15 a year in two years time, how on earth will you be able to stand that, vicar? Best replace that old gas-guzzler eh!! Maybe you should get an ex-rep turdbox from whatever the equivalent is to "Yes Car Credit", that'll get your money back from the evil government.

 

To be honest when I heard about the tax increases on pre-2001 stuff I was delighted, it seems like people with newer stuff are getting utterly shafted, whereas 'shiters get an increase which, let's be honest, is pretty negligible really.

 

I also reckon he uses the term "credit crunch" as he loads up his Marks and Spencers shopping basket with £3.50 ready meals.

[Ross_K]

He looks like the type of smug fucker who spends too much time writing letters to the editor of the Daily Mail.

 

 

People like him are so out of touch with reailty it's unreal...

 

PS, what's the story with vicars and beards? Is it a work-related requirement in the same way all traffic cops need to have moustaches?

[Justin Case]

I think you are being unfair, it may be that he is thinking of changing his Primera for a five-year-old Range Rover, in which case I have every sympathy with him. In any case doesn't the church pay his expenses (my employers do) or at very least he could claim the cost against tax This stereotype of bearded vicars is getting a bit out of date. Our vicar hasn't got a beard, and the one before her didn't have one either.

[mk2_craig]

That is the most "non-news" story I've seen in a long time. It's on the same scale as some pensioner having to get out of bed three minutes earlier to keep catching the service that her local bus operator has re-timetabled slightly, or the ten yards further she has to walk after the council replaced a traffic island with a pelican crossing

[mnde]

Sorry, I think you're being unfair as well Hirst. The fact is he's saying can't afford to replace his car anyway, so he's soldiering on with the Primera. And I'm not particularly happy at a hike from £185 to £200 on my 1598cc Citroen BX, which only does 30-35 mpg. It all adds up. Especially if you've got more than one shiter But I agree, it's the post-2001 car owners that are really getting shafted!!Mark.

[Ross_K]

Don't vicars earn £20,000 a year (and get provided with a roof over their beardy heads)? And don't forget the cash-in-hand jobs like weddings, funerals, etc. either which I'm sure they declare to the tax man. Fuck 'em, and forgive me if I don't lose sleep over the extra £15 this guy needs to find for his next year's road tax.I might be concerned if the story was about road tax increases and , for instance, a single mum paying for childcare and working a shitty job in Asda.

[Milford Cubicle]

I do think it's a bit silly that everything from 1549cc to infinity pays the same road tax. But £200 spread over a year is bugger all compared to the cost of insurance (for most people), and fuel.

[Ross_K]

Maybe you'd prefer the system we've got here in Ireland:http://www.environ.ie/en/LocalGovernmen ... ngineSize/Mr. Vicar would be paying €450 (that's £350!) a year to keep his 1.6 Primera on the road.Some people don't know they're born...

[Guest]

I do think it's a bit silly that everything from 1549cc to infinity pays the same road tax.

Double-edged sword though - they wouldn't dare put it up that much on account of how many 1.6L cars are about, meaning shite fans are free to buy Lincoln Continental MKIVs with the potter-tastic 7.5L V8.

[mk2_craig]

I don't see the problem, surely what they're trying to do here is influence what you buy in the first place through the price level of annual road tax, then influence how much you use it through the price level of fuel tax. If that means the values of mid-life drug-dealer Range Rover Sports and Merc M-classeseses go through the floor and renders them fraggable at under a decade old then all the better in my opinion.

[pogweasel]

Good rantage, Hirst-san. I agree it's a bit much to be getting all 'angry of tunbridge wells' about. Irritating, but not the end of the world. It's true though that the system is still a bit arse-about-face. £185 (up to £200) a year for my owd BMW.... yes it's a bit juicy... but it's made of recycled bits, and thus far I have only managed to drive it 600 miles. This may go up a bit once it stops falling to pieces but still not a lot. Our new Picasso thing is going to be doing at least 10k a year... but that will be £35 next year and £0 tax the year after (or something like that) because it is a 'low-emissions' car. Low, fine, but 10000 miles vs 2000? It's still going to be chucking out more guff, surely?

[r.welfare]

Well, I'm looking forward to the day you can pick up a 51-plate Omega 3.2 for £1.50 in 2010, once the tax is £420 or whatever Agree with you Pog - how much more CO2 does the Beemer put out? Let's say it's 250g/km - so twice as much as the Citroen for argument's sake - it won't take long for the Picasso to pollute more heavily.

[seth]

CO2 production is directly related to the amount of fuel burnt regardless of the age of the vehicle. So its all down to MPG and mileage covered.

[vicsmith]

It`s £101.75 for 6 months tax anyway, so it`s already over £200 a year if you pay for it in two halves. This man simply should not have been given a voice, he has no right to be heard. For him, the right to free speech should be denied, permanently.Loads of people have moaned to me about how their T-reg Vectra is going to be £500 to tax next year, and articles like this being published are just going to make it so everyone has even less of a fucking clue as to what is going on. (Everyone meaning all those folks who couldnt find their own ass with both hands an` a flashlight)

[Mr Lobster]

Totally not news that. If it was going to treble then he might just have a point. But it isn't and he doesn't.There will be a damn sight more stuff goes up by over £15 by 2010 anyway.I don't agree with the retrospective element of the road tax increase though, I bought my 04 Seat Toledo with the idea of keeping it long term and to be honest the fact that RFL goes up from £205 to £300 isn't going to make me go out and by some wheeled eco box, I'll just have to pay it

[Richard]

Maybe you'd prefer the system we've got here in Ireland:http://www.environ.ie/en/LocalGovernmen ... ngineSize/Mr. Vicar would be paying €450 (that's £350!) a year to keep his 1.6 Primera on the road.Some people don't know they're born...

I'm very glad we don't have that system, it looks very unfair. Our C5 costs £120 per year to tax here but it would cost €590 in Ireland because it has a 2 litre engine. Even with the new emissions-related system it would be €290.

[Ross_K]

Yeah it's a total screw job alright.As any of you who've visited Ireland will notice, the "road tax" doesn't get spent on the roads. Each county council gets their share into the pot, so councillors can spend my money on ladyboy hookers next time they go on a fact-finding mission to Thailand.I hear BMW diesels are set to clean up under the new CO2 based system. €100 a year or something like that to tax a 320d....

[Cavcraft]

I think you are being unfair, it may be that he is thinking of changing his Primera for a five-year-old Range Rover, in which case I have every sympathy with him. In any case doesn't the church pay his expenses (my employers do) or at very least he could claim the cost against tax

This stereotype of bearded vicars is getting a bit out of date. Our vicar hasn't got a beard, and the one before her didn't have one either.

You work for God? Cool!

[AXrescuer]

Yeah it's a total screw job alright.As any of you who've visited Ireland will notice, the "road tax" doesn't get spent on the roads.

It doesn't here either, going by the state of the roads in my neck of the woods!

[Justin Case]

I think you are being unfair, it may be that he is thinking of changing his Primera for a five-year-old Range Rover, in which case I have every sympathy with him. In any case doesn't the church pay his expenses (my employers do) or at very least he could claim the cost against tax

This stereotype of bearded vicars is getting a bit out of date. Our vicar hasn't got a beard, and the one before her didn't have one either.

You work for God? Cool!

Not quite, I just work for someone who thinks he is God

[pompei]

Reminds me of when the Pope persuaded his chauffuer to let him have a go piloting the Popemobile, and was stopped by Plod for speeding. The lawman rang into the station and said "I don't know who's in the back of this car I've just stopped, but he must be pretty important - he's got the Pope for his driver".

[Cavcraft]

I think you are being unfair, it may be that he is thinking of changing his Primera for a five-year-old Range Rover, in which case I have every sympathy with him. In any case doesn't the church pay his expenses (my employers do) or at very least he could claim the cost against tax

This stereotype of bearded vicars is getting a bit out of date. Our vicar hasn't got a beard, and the one before her didn't have one either.

You work for God? Cool!

Not quite, I just work for someone who thinks he is God

That's where I fail: I have a boss at work and a boss at home who both think that!

[The Blue Lumiere!]

I dunno, for a 'non news' story, it's generated a healthy two pages full of debate.When I wrote my article "Why Cancer, Fascism, Cruelty To Animals And Slum Landlords Are All Absolutely Brilliant", no one even read it!

[Owain-328i]

It's robbery, as none of it gets spent on the roads. Seems roads in the uk are only repaired when they are in dire need of it. There doesnt seem to be any maintanence!!Im getting a bargain compared to the Vicar, i tax a 2.8 for the same money as his 1.6 haha

[vicsmith]

I dunno, for a 'non news' story, it's generated a healthy two pages full of debate.When I wrote my article "Why Cancer, Fascism, Cruelty To Animals And Slum Landlords Are All Absolutely Brilliant", no one even read it!

I have spent 24 hours using mind-maps, regression therapy and all sorts and cannot come up with a single plausible explanation for that article`s lack of uptake.

[The Blue Lumiere!]

It's got me stumped, too.

It was published in The Swinging Pocketwatch: Official Trade Journal Of The Guild Of British Stage Hypnotists.

 

I turned up for my anger management class and I was told it was cancelled. I went mental and wrecked the joint.

[Guest]

[marinast]

Cars in the pre 2001 bracket with an engine less than 1400cc have been overlooked in all this and will see no road tax increases for the next three/four years. A result for those like me who drive an old Rover 214.As ever, the answer is not to fight against the rules but fight around them.

[Mr_Bo11ox]

Not really, if you've got a 2001 MG ZS 180 youre bolloxed arent you, thats all there is to it really. You just happened to be lucky that your car is old enough!

[The Blue Lumiere!]

Touche.