Jeremy Corbyn plans war on motorists with huge fuel duty hikes to force them to slash 60% of journeys
JEREMY Corbyn plans a war on motorists — forcing them to slash 60 per cent of trips within ten years.
An internal Labour party paper reveals punishing new measures to slash road use.
They include huge hikes in fuel duty and company car tax, mandatory road pricing and charges to park your vehicle at work.
Reducing motorway speed limits so cars go slower and pollute less is also proposed and all planned road improvements will also be binned.
At the annual party conference in September Labour defied expert warnings and backed Britain to go carbon neutral by 2030.
The Tories seized on the document to insist the plans will hurt already struggling road commuters the hardest. Transport Secretary Grant Shapps warned: “Corbyn is coming for your car.”
The latest revelation comes after another difficult day for Labour.
- Hard left leader Jezza joked with jostling photographers in Blackpool that “under Socialism you will co-operate”;
- Mr Corbyn also hinted at a manifesto U-turn over controversial plans to abolish private schools;
- As he prepared to campaign in Scotland today, Mr Corbyn was branded “toxic” by his own side;
- Labour bosses ruled left-winger Ian Byrne should not be sacked as a parliament candidate despite his sexist and homophobic tirades;
- Controversial activist Claudia Webbe was selected for a safe Labour seat despite defending ex-London mayor Ken Livingstone over the anti-Semitism scandal;
- Shadow education secretary Angela Rayner insisted she “will cry on December 13th if we don’t get a Labour government” because so much is at stake over the NHS.
Even if Labour pushes through just one of the anti-car measures by allowing regular increases in fuel duty — frozen for the previous decade — the cost of petrol and diesel will go up by 13p plus inflation during their five years in power.
Mr Shapps added: “It is now clear that Labour have secret plans to clobber hardworking people with a barrage of tax hikes on their family car, that would leave families with less money in their pockets.
“Labour’s extreme economic policies would be a disaster for drivers. Tackling climate change is vital but independent experts and even Labour’s own unions say their promises don’t stack up.”
The report, by energy industry experts, was commissioned by Labour, published on the party website and endorsed by shadow business secretary Rebecca Long-Bailey.
'DISASTER FOR DRIVERS'
Previous Tory PM Theresa May this year signed the UK up to going carbon neutral by 2050.
Labour insisted that the “external report” had not been endorsed “wholesale” by the party. A spokesman said: “Labour will usher in an electric car revolution.
“We will provide interest-free loans for 2.5million to upgrade their vehicles, introduce a scrappage scheme for old cars, protect the 186,000 workers in the automotive sector, kick-start a mammoth rollout of the UK’s electric vehicle charging network and set up community car sharing clubs.
"All the Tories have to offer is green number plates.” Mr Corbyn’s two-day Scotland tour takes in seven constituencies under pressure from the SNP.
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But party insiders warned that he would be better off heading to South America or the Canary Islands instead.
Asked which places Mr Corbyn should target during his trip one insider joked: “He should go to Bogota — or maybe Tenerife.”
A second source said: “The sad truth is that Corbyn is toxic on the doorsteps in Scotland. He’d genuinely be better off staying away”.
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