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Johnson scraps plan to tax London gas guzzlers
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by Dave Keating | July 8, 2008 at 01:30 am
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London mayor Boris Johnson has fulfilled an election promise to abolish the special tax on large, gas-guzzling cars set by his predecessor, Ken Livingstone. The plan would have taxed so-called "Chelsea tractors," or large SUVs, and use the money to allow small fuel-efficient vehicles to be exempt from the congestion charge.
Mayor Boris Johnson has scrapped plans to increase the central London congestion charge to 25 pounds a day for owners of gas-guzzling cars.
The CO2 charge, brainchild of former London Mayor Ken Livingstone, was due to have come into effect in October.
As well as penalising bigger and faster cars, it would have scrapped the normal eight-pound charge for small, fuel-efficient vehicles.
Critics of the plan had claimed it would have been expensive to implement and might even have increased pollution by allowing thousands of small cars into central London free of charge.
The Conservatives had pledged to scrap the CO2 charge in Johnson's election manifesto. He was elected in May.
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Dave Keating
London, United Kingdom
I See Modern Britain
Edinburgh, United Kingdom
Most RecentMost Recommended Comments (1)
at 02:19 on July 8th, 2008
Dave Keating, I like this story. It's good stuff. Yes, it is a complex issue as you point out, and it's easy for these issues to get 'right on' treatment rather than carefully considering what policy is most effective in cutting emmissions (i think R 2 many ssss or mmms there!)
Gerry