Road Tax and the cost of fuel WILL be issues at the next election

Readers of Parker's are concerned about the cost of Road Tax and fuel and are willing to switch their vote to a party that will cut them - according to an exclusive survey.

Published on the day of the Pre-Budget Report, it shows that 84 per cent of people intend to vote differently as a result of the forthcoming changes to Road Tax, while 86 per cent said that the cost of diesel and petrol would be a factor when it came to the next general election.

In total more than three quarters of Parker’s users said that they wanted to see something done about the price of fuel and road tax. Although petrol prices have fallen by more than two thirds since the Summer and the Government has frozen fuel duty, there have been calls by some for further action.

'Delayed death sentence'

Conservative MP Justine Greening said: “The retrospective Road Tax rises need to be ditched completely, not just frozen. This is more than just a time issue, the costs will still go up in 2010 and the freeze is nothing but a delayed death sentence.”

“I think the Government also need to take a careful look at the price of fuel duty. Although the price of petrol has come down, it will eventually rise again. They need to stop with the ‘will they, won’t they’, like the stamp duty debacle this summer, and implement an automatic stabiliser when it comes to the price of fuel duty.

As well as Parker’s users and Miss Greening, the Retail Motor Industry Federation (RMIF) and the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders (SMMT) are also looking for more than just a delay in VED prices. They sent a joint letter to Chancellor of the Exchequer Alistair Darling, calling for more support for the motor industry including scrapping plans for increased VED and a new First Year Rate.

Green taxes

Despite the push by the Government on green issues, including the retrospective road tax prices, just 44 per cent of users were actually thinking of their affect on the environment when looking to buy a new car. Only one in three said that they would be looking to buy a car with low CO2 emissions and while just 4 per cent would be looking buying a hybrid car.

“For a green tax to work, we need to look at a gradual VED as it is not encouraging people to buy a better new car. There need to be tax reductions elsewhere. The road tax is actually not good on the environment as it means that people who own the most polluting cars can’t actually trade them in so are having to keep hold of them.” She added.