We all know that the Weymouth Relief Road which is currently tearing through the Dorset heaths, coastal areas of outstanding natural beauty, sites of special scientific interest and irreplaceable ancient woodland once owned by the Woodland Trust, is no relief at all and is in truth a terrible idea.
So is there any hope that when we finally get a new government in place, they will learn from this nasty mistake and remember party promises to slash road budgets?
The message coming from national campaigns such as Campaign for Better Transport is loud and clear: “ignore the pet projects and outdated road schemes, and spend what little money we have fixing the roads we’ve already got.”
Whilst the maintenance Verses expansion argument is a compelling one, it appears it doesn’t win elections. Especially when faced with the prospect of an effective lobbying backlash from motoring lobby groups like the AA and the freight industry together with business interests such as the CBI and Regional Development Authorities, it’s not surprising that most politicians turn and run for the hills on this issue.
Obviously with the prospect of the 2012 Olympics tipping the scale, Weymouth’s areas of outstanding natural beauty didn’t stand a chance, but given the fractious economic climate any new government will inherit, then surely it makes sense to spend money on jobs and manpower to fix existing roads rather than machines and faceless contractors to build new ones people don’t want?
Did you know that according to The Campaign for Better Transport, airplane fuel is not taxed at all in the UK?
There is no VAT on air travel or even new aircraft when they are bought. Amazingly the Treasury estimates that this subsidises the UK airline industry by a staggering £10 billion every year! It’s incredible that despite all this help the airlines are still plagued by strikes and raising prices.
Headlines have been dominated this week by British Airways again cancelling flights. This is now becoming an old story with talks, strikes and flight disruptions having been head-line news for the last 5 months.
The strikes that occurred at Christmas last year clearly didn’t get them what they wanted and now the cabin crew are unhappy with pay and staffing levels on long-haul flights.This set of strikes is just another notch on the already marked line of disagreement s between BA officials and staff over changes to pay and working conditions. Even with Brendan Barber, head of TUC (Trades Union Congress) communicating with union officials from Unite and British Airways, it seems to be fruitless as the BA cabin crew are threatening to strike for yet another four days starting on Saturday 27th March. A total of 200 BA flights have been cancelled and more are expected over the following days in expectation of the next set of strikes. The striking and cancellations have meant a loss of £21m for BA, a total of £7m per day and these costs are not likely to end here.
BA’s chief executive Willie Walsh has so far shown no signs of backing down, but BA are coming to a point where they have nowhere else to turn and if they don’t find ways to cut their losses they are going to struggle to survive.
For BA passengers hoping to travel over the weekend, it is not looking too promising with London Heathrow having the most flights cancelled. However, BA has announced that there will be no severe disruption to passengers and the majority of the services will operate normally in the next coming days. For all flight and BA information find out here.
However, if you have no regard for your carbon footprint whatsoever, but would like to take full advantage of the loopholes in UK aviation taxation laws, then the best thing to do would be to charter your own plane. Last year more than 67,000 flights in private jets avoided paying any tax at all, despite emitting up to 30 times more carbon dioxide per passenger.
At least commercial passengers pay £11 for short haul and up to £110 for long haul flights in a shallow nod towards compensation for the carbon footprint of their journey, but it seems very small aircraft, used almost exclusively by the rich and famous are exempt! The Campaign for Better Transport have been spearheading the campaign to tax aviation fairly for years. Visit their website to find out more.
The competition to find the most expensive local UK bus journey launched by Campaign for Better Transport concludes tomorrow.
For last minute entries visit the Campaign for Better Transport website, www.bettertransport.org.uk or email journey details (distance travelled or time taken or destinations served), and cost, along with your name and email address to campaigns@bettertransport.org.uk.
Campaign for Better Transport hopes to shame the Government into bringing down fares by investing more in buses. The person who submits the most expensive journey will win a £50 voucher.
Sarah Matthews, a campaigner in the group, said,
“More people would travel by bus if it were cheaper. Higher bus use would reduce traffic, making it easier for us to get around, and be better for the environment. Affordable buses are also a lifeline for many people, making it possible for them to get to work, the shops, the GP and other services.”
Campaign for Better Transport has launched a competition to find the most expensive local bus journey in the country. By highlighting expensive routes Campaign for Better Transport hope to shame the Government into bringing down fares by investing more in buses. The person who submits the most expensive journey will win a £50 voucher.
Sarah Matthews, a campaigner in the group, said,
“More people would travel by bus if it were cheaper. Higher bus use would reduce traffic, making it easier for us to get around, and be better for the environment. Affordable buses are also a lifeline for many people, making it possible for them to get to work, the shops, the GP and other services. Through this competition we hope to shame the Government into investing more in buses, to bring down the price of bus fares. Funding could go directly to local councils to upgrade services, but could also go to bus priority measures – like bus lanes – to bring down operating costs.”
To enter the competition, people should visit the Campaign for Better Transport website, www.bettertransport.org.uk or email journey details (distance travelled or time taken or destinations served), and cost, along with their name and your email address to campaigns@bettertransport.org.uk.
UK train fares are the most expensive in Europe and the Government wants to make passengers pay even more. We’re asking the Government to tax the fuel used for domestic flights – which would make up for any money lost by reduced train fares.
Join in
• Visit the Campaign for Better Transport website www.bettertransport.org.uk to join the campaign and find out how you can help reduce train fares
• Tell your friends about the campaign. The more people who take action, the bigger an impression we can make
• Watch train and plane battle for your business — and then send the video round to your friends
Campaign for Better Transport fight for transport that increases people’s quality of life and reduces the impact on the environment
