Motoring

Generally, it is because there are more cars on the road. I love driving under gantries that say "50 mph". I look at them and dream of driving 50 mph. The amount of congestion on the roads is an issue. The hon. Gentleman represents a Manchester seat. I know that Manchester recently held a vote on congestion charging. As I remember, he was against it. It was a great victory for the people of Manchester that congestion charging was not introduced into the area, because they all saw it as another tax. The Government tried to bribe the people of Manchester into voting for it, but they would not be bought. All that I am asking for is transparency in everything having to do with motoring. I do not think that motorists should be used as cash cows. I can think of all sorts of similar issues. I know that the Government are considering putting VAT on food to raise extra revenues to fill the black hole that has grown over many years. No; we must just be more careful about how we spend our money and more transparent about how we raise it. We should not use the motorist as a cash cow at every turn. I hope that any future Government will consider that. Speed cameras ought not to be about revenue raising; road safety and speed awareness should be at their core. On clamping, there is a public perception among those in the motoring industry that clamping is done for monetary reasons alone. There is still a suspicion that people are given official or unofficial commissions for reporting or carrying out clamping. My hon. Friend the Member for Banbury (Tony Baldry), during debate on the Crime and Security Bill, said:""clamping appears to be one of the few growth industries under this Government. I find it objectionable that so many of our fellow citizens are being ripped off by wheel-clampers."—[Official Report, 18 January 2010; Vol. 504, c. 89.]" Paul Watters, the AA's head of public affairs, has observed:""Private parking enforcement is big business generating millions of pounds and no one notices and acts when the rules are broken. The public have absolutely no protection if a private parking firm acts unfairly—it is a civil matter and no one is interested in helping."" The number of vehicles clamped has risen by 75 per cent. in the past 19 months, and 2,100 individuals are licensed to clamp. The same is true of parking. We have all seen parking attendants waiting by a car for the meter to run out. Parking laws exist to be enforced, of course, and for good reasons, but why promote the attitude that it is all about the money on the back of actions taken? The Government's problem is that there is a wider sphere of suspicion about the motives behind the charges. Councils received a total of £328 million pounds in on and off-street parking fines in 2008-09. Peter Roberts, chief executive of the Drivers' Alliance, said:""Parking enforcement has become a massive money-making industry and we are seeing unscrupulous and target driven enforcement of parking laws where the penalties far outweigh the offence."" I can remember a time when there were no parking charges in Clitheroe. When they were introduced, I said to my local authority, "Why have you introduced charges?" The charges hit many local shops, because having to pay for parking deterred people from coming into town to shop. I was told, "The Government assume that we are raising a certain amount in revenues, and that amount is taken off the support that we would otherwise get." Basically, the Government are promoting car parking charges in towns and villages. That is a great shame. As we all know, they will be seeking other ways to raise revenues as well. I suspect that in my lifetime, car parking charges will be introduced for people using supermarkets and out-of-town shopping centres. That is to be deplored. Charge by charge, stealth tax by stealth tax, the Government have created the impression that motoring is wrong, that people ought not to drive and that it is acceptable to charge them increasing amounts of money at every turn. As I have said, for many people, owning a car is not a luxury, but a necessity. When the 4x4 Chelsea tractor tax was mooted, the Government seemed not to have even considered the effect that such blanket legislation would have on people such as farmers who use such vehicles in the course of their profession. So blinded were Ministers by the possibility of another revenue stream that they lost sight of the bigger picture. People in rural areas need a car. They cannot rely on public transport because the infrastructure does not exist. Cars are needed to get the children to the bus stop for the school run. For many elderly people, the nearest doctors' surgery or supermarket is 3 or 4 miles away with no bus stops en route. That is like walking from Westminster Hall to Parsons Green. Over the last 13 years, this Administration have had a tendency to neglect the countryside, which can be seen from their attitude towards farmers, village schools, pubs, phone boxes and post offices, to name just a few. Their attitude towards motoring has also been formed without considering the needs of people living in rural areas. The UK's disabled population is heavily reliant on cars. There are approximately 1.7 million disabled drivers and 2.3 million blue badge holders. There are 600,000 Motability-supplied vehicles and about 10 per cent. of new cars sales are to the disabled sector. The annual spend of the disabled sector is approximately £60 billion. It is patently unfair continually to penalise disabled motorists, many of whom have no choice but to drive. The current piecemeal approach—a small rise here, a new charge there—cannot go on. People do not know what they are being charged for, why they are being charged for it or where the money is being spent. We must have a more transparent system, not revenue streams dressed up as green taxes, speed cameras or clampers. The RAC has called for an overhaul of the motoring taxation system. At present, it believes that every new tax and reform of the system is""merely a sticking plaster over the problem"." I could not agree more. Two years ago, I introduced a ten-minute Bill proposing transparency in the taxation of petrol. I argued that when people fill up their cars, their receipts should say not just how much VAT they have paid, as most receipts do, but how much taxation they have paid on the product. I think people would be shocked to see how much taxation they pay on every litre of petrol. As we have seen, the Government's attitude towards motorists is found wanting not just in the taxation system, but across the board. It goes from simple matters such as not providing the option to pay for the Dartford crossing and Severn bridge tolls by card, thereby catching many drivers unawares, to not removing speed cameras that are clearly in place only to augment revenue. The Government's policy agenda is clear: "Show me the money!" The 2009 Budget states that the Treasury projects it will raise £26.6 billion on fuel duties alone this year, which is up £2 billion from 2008-09. It will raise £4.7 billion on VAT and £5.6 billion on car tax. Why, according to the RAC, is only a third of that spent on motorists? That is a serious indictment of Government policy. This is a broad debate. I want to touch on one more area before I finish. When people break down, they park on the hard shoulder to wait for the emergency services. I hope that the Government or any future Government will consider allowing the emergency services, the RAC, the AA and other such organisations to use the hard shoulder to get to people who have broken down. Sadly, accidents also happen on the hard shoulder. People have lost their lives waiting for the emergency services to arrive. I hope that the Government will consider the simple measure of allowing the emergency services to use the hard shoulder.