Ex-minister attacks 'confusing' car duty rise

Labour's plans to increase road tax for millions of motorists came under renewed attack today.

Former minister Peter Kilfoyle criticised the proposal for being a tax on ownership rather than on car usage.

He also warned that it was " confusing" as a significant number of cars would pay less tax despite the furore over the millions that will face a higher levy. Criticising the planned green tax, he said: "This has two major errors, the first one is that it taxes ownership - it doesn't tax usage.

"If you are trying to have a really big impact on the consumption of oil and all the problems that go with that you have to look at fuel tax, not road tax. There is a retrospective element to this and it means that people who bought cars four or five years ago are now going to be taxed in a way which they never imagined when they bought the cars in the first place. It falls disproportionately on people who own secondhand cars."

Meanwhile, a Commons committee criticised the Government for not going far enough with the new vehicle excise duty system, which could see rises of more than £200 for some models.

The projected carbon savings from the introduction of new vehicle excise duty bands were "far less than they could be", the report from the House of Commons environmental audit committee stated.