The Government has not made any decisions about national road pricing yet, prime minister Tony Blair has advised.
In an e-mail to almost 1.8M people who signed an Internet petition opposing the potential charges, Blair said the proposal was ‘not about imposing “stealth taxes” or introducing “Big Brother” surveillance’. He said the Government was not in a position to make a decision about road pricing at present.
‘This is a complex subject, which cannot be resolved without a thorough investigation of all the options, combined with a full and frank debate about the choices we face at a local and national level.’ He said funds raised from local schemes to help address congestion problems would be used to improve transport in those areas.
Responding to the prime minister’s comments, Cllr David Sparks, chairman of the Local Government Association’s transport and regeneration board, said: ‘Regardless of which council leads on road pricing, the Local Government Association has made it clear to the Government that a substantial improvement in the transport infrastructure, such as buses, trains, trams and cycling paths, is absolutely essential. ‘Otherwise, it will be poll tax revisited.’
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