A TAXING ENVIRONMENT

Let me take you back to the 80s – I know some of you were only twinkles in your parents’ eyes at that time, but please join me.

Then almost all petrol sold contained lead as an anti-knocking agent (Something poor old Rishi could do with at the moment).

 In 1983, the Royal Commission on Environmental Pollution published a report that showed that lead could do real damage to children’s health and stunt their growth.

Within 30 minutes – and I mean 30 actual minutes – the government announced that all new cars would have to run lead-free and that forecourts would have to introduce pumps.

 Naturally, there were howls from the motoring organisations and, for years, nobody took a blind bit of notice and continued to till up with leaded petrol. 

Why? It was cheaper and continued to be the fuel of choice because it was cheaper by a few pence.

That is until the government stepped in and made leaded petrol dearer and – with a U-Turn that would make any politician proud – we were all using unleaded. It was only a couple of pence a litre, but then pennies count (they definitely did then for me.

 The next attempt at saving the planet by cutting back on fuel was by John Gum-Gums with his sneaky fuel escalator. Here the price of fuel would creep up year by year and no one would notice.

Well, we did bloody well notice and eventually, we had all the major refineries blockaded and long lines outside petrol stations. More burning rubber as the government hit the brakes and U-turned

Then we had the congestion charge in Central London. This was at a modest level which only affected a small area and a few people. Residents were exempt.  And, if you’re driving a Roller, what’s a fiver here or there?

Emboldened by this, the Mayor, Sadiq (I carry the petrol) Khan, decided to clean up the air in the leafy suburbs of the city.  He introduced a tax of £12.50 every time you crossed the line. Now this is real dosh and all hell has broken loose.

Good law-abiding citizens are taking the law into their own hands and vandalising the monitors. It may cost Sadiq the election next year.

A few pence here and there is one thing but £25 for a daily school run – if your kids are in the next borough –  is something else. 

The Mayor’s coffers are low, and he needs the dosh but this is a heavy blow

This has little to do with clean air, it’s to do with cleaning our pockets out. 

But Sadiq’s commitment to the environment is unwavering. Last week he was at a conference in New York on global warming, presumably he swam.

Have a good week

Tom