APPG 2030 Ban

Fair Fuel APPG for UK Motorists and UK Hauliers August 2021 Page | 53 Net Zero and a question of honesty In a measured article in Conservative Woman 23 , Dr Benny Peiser from the GWPF says: “AS public discontent and concerns over the astronomical costs of Net Zero keep growing, green Tories are beginning to fret that they may soon be facing a disastrous political backlash. Writing in the Sunday Telegraph 28 , former energy minister Chris Skidmore shows that he is unnerved by this likely prospect and warns that the Net Zero agenda will fail unless ministers are honest with the public ‘about the scale of what lies ahead’. Mr Skidmore’s alert about the geopolitical risks of going green is certainly timely, as is his warning about the growing risk of power shortages if the UK were to follow a renewables-only policy. But when it comes to honesty and trust, Mr Skidmore would be well advised to refrain from claiming that the cost of offshore wind has come ‘crashing down’. Empirical data shows that this is simply not the case 21 . As for the Climate Change Committee and the UK Government, how about coming clean and reveal the suspect Net Zero cost estimates they are trying to hide? 22 After all, Mr Skidmore is right when he warns about the true risk Net Zero faces: ‘Trust means working with people to achieve shared ambitions and potential, not working to a centralised plan without widespread support that will be destined to fail.” “FairFuelUK supporters will not take much more” says award winning public affairs campaigner, Howard Cox. In what seems the myopic minds of transport and Treasury politicos, it is evident that “polluter pays” will unquestionably evolve to “user pays”. That will of course, incense those well-off electric vehicle drivers who bought their characterless zilch emissions vehicles because they qualify for zero taxes and urban charges exemptions. There is a prophetic irony here, to when we were all told to switch to diesel from petrol over 20 years ago. A certain smugness will soon turn to a déjà vu reality. 4 out of 5 fossil fuel drivers, from FairFuelUK’s detailed research, believe it is how much driving that takes place on our roads that should be costed, and not centred on virtue signalling ill-informed green time-honoured bias. With the tsunami of political pressure to drive electric and to dump our fossil fuelled expensive assets, no one in Whitehall has published how the predicted fall in fuel duty income is to be replaced. And let us not forget those essential vehicles, from emergency services to logistics. They should experience preferential fair rates of road levies, based on their positive contribution to society and the economy. So, in order to preserve the Treasury’s 5th largest income, developing a fair and viable world beating road taxation system must be based on objective unbiased consultation with existing driver groups such as FairFuelUK. It most certainly must not be originated through bullying from those ill- informed anti-car and celebrity very well-financed emotive environmental zealots that have been embedded into Whitehall’s cosy well paid advisory elite.’ In whatever way Fuel Duty is to be restored, it is vital that everyone who uses UK roads must pay something to ensure our roads infrastructure is fit and safe for the 21st century. For ALL users not just the privileged few.