Fears over road pricing plans

IN the biggest-ever online petition, nearly two million people voted against Government plans for road pricing.

If the UK votes to stay in the EU, we can look forward to it being imposed through the back door.

The UK Government has enthusiastically backed EU proposals for ‘Energy Union’. Unfortunately, it has been less open about the small print, which goes well beyond energy measures.

The European Commission intends to publish legislative proposals for road pricing and the ‘transformation of the entire transport system’ just after our referendum.

In its under-publicised Transport White Paper, the Commission proposed a Single European Transport Area, with compulsory charges on all vehicles on all roads.

Although we are sometimes assured that deciding vehicle charges is a national matter, that does not wash – the commission recently took legal action against the UK Government over its daily charge for foreign HGVs.

The commission would prefer to have per mile/km charging, which would involve intrusively tracking and recording our journeys.

It has also warned that we would pay more.

There is still time to discuss this important matter and raise it with our elected representatives. For more information, visit www.newalliance.org.uk/ rp