Transport - Pay as you drive
WORKERS, MAY 2008 ISSUE
Some 1.8 million people signed an online petition against road charging last year. As with the 2 million people who marched against the launch of the Iraq War, the government has decided to ignore these objections.
On top of the government's new "anti-terror legislation" with the proposed 42-day internment, and the planned national ID card – the government has come up with a personalised latter-day poll tax: plans recently revealed indicate a minimum charge of £1.34p a mile "pay as you drive" scheme for Britain's 30 million drivers. The scheme, based on satellite technology, will monitor all drivers' movements.
Britain is already the most spied-upon country in Europe, with more CCTV cameras than anywhere else in Europe. From carbon footprints, sub-prime mortgages and now mileage satellite spies, if only they could work out how to tax the air we breathe...