'Pay as you drive' road tax scrapped

Labour has backed down on its highly controversial 'pay as you drive' road pricing scheme after an online petition was signed by over 1.8 million people, making it the largest ever to have appeared on Downing Street's website - over three times the size as the second most popular.

The petition closed in 2007, with then Prime Minister Tony Blair responding by calling it “the beginning, not the end of the debate.” Well, it seems the debate has finally ended, with the petitioners coming out on top.

The scheme would have seen motorists pay up to £1.50 per mile to drive on the UK's busiest roads, and charged via a 'black box' fitted to their car that could track when and where they are driving - another cause for concern among drivers. Charges would have varied according to location and time of day, and been deducted automatically.

But new Transport Secretary Lord Adonis has postponed it, confirming that if re-elected the Labour Government will “definitely not proceed with a national road charging scheme in the next parliament.” AA President Edmund King welcomed the news, claiming the Government has done “the sensible thing” after an AA survey found 86 percent of respondents did not trust the Government to come up with a fair road pricing system.

Mark Nichol