Road charging - your views online

Charging drivers for using roads has been backed by MPs who said today there was “no viable alternative” to pay for the network as motoring tax income dwindled with the switch to electric vehicles.

James Petrie

Thought the new rule was no matter what, your new car would still be taxed. Simple fix really, if you have a vehicle your road fund is £100 ,then all who use the roads are equally billed to use them. If cyclists you wish to use the same roads and cars they also should pay as the roads benefit them as well.

Alexandra Culbard

More expense. Some people have no choice but to use their cars. NI payments up. Gas and electricity charges going through the roof. Council tax up. What is this Tory government thinking? The multi-millionaires don’t worry, they are all right Jack. Let the poor suffer again. I am not a nationalist but this government should be booted out.

Alex Dickson

Privatising roads now. We should be out protesting each weekend with the way we are being robbed to give to the government’s friends. No one speaks for the people anymore.

Julie Starr

So we are now being penalised for switching to zero emission cars? Hilarious!

Graham Gray

There is a viable alternative – forget about electric vehicles, they are useless.

Martin Quirke

Road charging is a great idea, and needed if we genuinely want to solve problems such as congestion, pollution, health. 'Motoring tax' as you've called it, does not pay for the roads but goes into the general taxation pool. What you do pay, ie VET, is actually a tax against 'emissions'. No emissions, no tax. As for electric vehicles, they can be just as polluting overall in reality. Depending on how the electricity is generated - the pollution can be just created somewhere else besides the immediate surroundings of the vehicle.

Steven Wilson

Electric cars should still have a financial charge for road use.

Ellie May

Where is everyone going to get a power point to charge the car? And even if it comes with a home charging cable, how much electricity would it cost to charge it, considering it takes roughly 13 hours to fully charge?

NamIan Toghille

Buses, taxis, lorries and delivery drivers will be happy about this...not!

Kevan Gordon

Every motorist already pays a hefty charge 'based on distance travelled'. We call it petrol/diesel.

Iain Lancastle

No one likes paying tax and motorists have been regarded by successive governments as a 'dripping roast'. The reduction of petro /diesel taxes will have to be met to plug a hole in the government's finances. There is a cost for transition to a zero carbon economy. Perhaps an alternative would be a simple mileage charge. No expensive roadside technology. I accept that rural drivers would be disadvantaged but given that they probably use more fossil fuel and will be paying more fuel taxes at present it would not be as bad as some may argue. Public transport provision would need substantial improvement. Cost and timetables would need to be looked at.

Kyle Danko

Or you could cut back on wasteful spending and get back to basics.

Aliceanne Smith

Just tax the electric car.

Gee Darcy

Are the electric batteries recyclable at the end of life?

Jennie Godfrey

So, having paid my road tax I also have to pay to go on roads?

Martin Allan

Free public transport for all is a viable alternative.

Sergio Rad

That's great, there are too many pollutng cars around.

Gus Macleod

So, having paid road tax for my car, my van and my bike, I now have to pay to go on roads that are riddled with potholes and not worthy to be classed as roads.

Iona Edmonstone

What about people who need to use their car for work, eg community nurses?

James Allan

So we who are driving normal cars are being taxed twice.

Gordon Brechin

There's not enough rare earth minerals, very often being dug by slave labour to replace the UK fleet of cars, never mind the rest of the world. So only the rich will be driving In future, the rest of us will be enclosed in the pre-planned "20 minutes communities."

Craig Marshall

Can't even abandon this country thanks to selfish folk voting Brexit.

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