Raise tax on luxury gas guzzlers to pay for diesel scrappage plan says MP
TAXES on gas-guzzling cars should be put up to fund a diesel scrappage scheme, a Tory MP argues today.
Charlie Elphicke said vehicle excise duty should be raised on the top 5 per cent highest-emission cars – including luxury SUVs and sports cars as well as older models – to help to raise the £2billion needed to pay for the scheme.
He argued that his proposal to pay the owners of older diesel models £1,000 to get rid of their cars would be much fairer than plans for a £20-a-day ‘toxin tax’.
The MP for Dover said the plan would help families and small businesses switch from the most polluting diesel vehicles.
Mr Elphicke, chairman of the all-party parliamentary group on fair fuel, said drivers who were encouraged to buy diesel cars by the last Labour government should not now be penalised. ‘It would be deeply unfair to punish millions of diesel drivers with higher taxes,’ he added.
‘A replacement scheme for the two million oldest and dirtiest diesels is fairer. This would tackle pollution more effectively.
‘Many hard-pressed families and small businesses simply can’t afford to pay more to drive or to buy a new car.’ He said helping diesel drivers move to less polluting cars ‘is the right thing to do [and] a replacement scheme is the fairest and most effective way to do so’.
It was reported last week that Environment Secretary Andrea Leadsom is considering a ‘toxin tax’ of £20 a day on diesels in 35 cities.
London mayor Sadiq Khan has also announced plans for a new £12.50 daily charge on the most polluting cars entering anywhere between the North and South circular roads around the capital.
In a report, Mr Elphicke argued that demonising the country’s 10million diesel drivers with a blanket tax is bad science. In London, for example, diesel cars account for
‘It would be deeply unfair’
only 10 per cent of all nitrogen oxide emissions.
The Tory MP said more work was needed to tackle the other 90 per cent, which comes from ageing buses and trains, dirty construction sites, planes and gas heating systems.
Nick Lyes, of the RAC, said: ‘Tackling poor air quality shouldn’t simply be about demonising diesel cars; it needs a strategic approach encompassing all sectors contributing to the problem including construction, domestic energy and other modes of transport.’
Rebecca Newsom, of Greenpeace UK, said: ‘The Government must ensure the right incentives and financial support are in place to enable drivers and fleets to make the switch away from dirty diesel.’