When I was asked to address the BAR conference I thought it must have something to do with my legal past. Wrong - the British Association of Removers represents removal firms throughout Britain. I spoke to their annual meeting on Friday morning.
They wanted to know all about the Mayor's plans for a low emission zone and they were very concerned. Removal vans are only replaced after long intervals because their mileage is usually quite low. A new vehicle can cost as much as £110,000. The Mayor wants to charge older, more polluting, vehicles £200 per day to enter London. Fine for a large company with a national fleet to choose from but potentially catastrophic for smaller firms with a lot of business in the capital.
Of course a tax on business pretty soon becomes a tax on the customer, as the cost is passed on. Moving home in London is about to become even more expensive, as the Mayor takes a slice of stealth tax, on top of those imposed by Gordon Brown.
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4 comments:
Roger, I hope this means we're going to campaign for the repeal of the Low Emission Zone in the GLA elections next year. It's a tax on small business.
Bromley Tory - our stance on this will be a matter for the Mayoral candidate, so it's a good issue to raise at the hustings.
So, Bromley Tory is advocating a return to pollution. Cough, cough! Splutter, splutter!
Surely it is not beyond the wit of man to devise a system that accounts for mileage and age of vehicle and still encourages the purchase of low pollution vehicles when existing vehicles reach the end of their life?
Have Tories lost the ability to look at holistic solutions?
'our stance on this will be a matter for the Mayoral candidate'
Bit of a cop out.
But what is the position of the Conservative group on the London assembly in relation to Bromley Tory's question?
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