Those do-as-I-say-dont-do-as-I-do communists at the local council have now implemented their plan to charge SUV owners £300 for a parking permit to park outside their own houses.
A permit for a non-SUV is £43 per year.
This is a so-called Green Tax.
What utter nonsense.
How is a Range Rover polluting when its parked? Or taking up more space when it fits in the same parking slot as any other car?
I cannot believe the idiocy of this country's moronic liberal elite who pass these obscene laws.
I heard arch-leftie Lourie on the radio yesterday saying that he wants to force people into smaller cars.
Proof that I am correct in my theory that this is a socialist dictatorship and not a democracy.
Many clients of mine are planning to leave the UK in the future, and I dont plan a retirement here thats for sure.
The dictators are causing the good, hardworking people to have such constraints put on their everyday choices that they want to leave the country.
How dare the council TELL us what we can or cannot drive.
A Range Rover is available freely on the market, so therefore it should be free choice to buy one.
Also bear this in mind.
The Range Rover is the ONLY good product which is BRITISH these days, so surely it should be promoted and supported, rather than pilloried.
We in the UK no longer manufacture anything, and with the communist party's idea of keeping everyone in school until theyre old enough for University, then a job in the public services means that we are no longer a nation of designers, free thinkers or talented engineers, because our youth are not allowed to be.
The Range Rover is a wonderful car, and is something which British people should be proud of, and yet it is high on the agenda of the meddling, nannying local lefty Stalinist councils to try to banish them from our streets.
I suggest that idiot councillor gets on with his proper responsibilities, which he was elected for, IE: looking after the interests of the local people, and ensuring we get good public services for our £1800 per year council tax & £43 residents permit charges.
I swear to god this is utter madness of the highest order.
I didnt see the programme but I heard about it in the newspaper.
There is a simple solution - Im not sure why there is such red tape and such utter bilge coming out of the politicians' mouths.
The solution is to give us all our freedom back and for those who dont like it, there is a very easily accessible ferry port at Portsmouth and an airport at Heathrow who will be happy to oblige with a one way ticket.
Originally posted by Palmira: Those do-as-I-say-dont-do-as-I-do communists at the local council have now implemented their plan to charge SUV owners £300 for a parking permit to park outside their own houses.
I did have an 03 Range Rover 3 years ago for 6 months.
However as I explained in my post, it affects potentially everyone. It is an anti-business, anti-prosperity move by the lefties and needs to be stopped.
Palmy, fully agree mate. If things are not suitable here then maybe where they/they're parents were born is best for them, after all. It annoys me greatly to see my laws and ways of life changed to suit the minorities. You and i would never get special treatment in Pakistan, THAT'S for sure.
I dont want to get onto a Soap Box about all of that...
But what I will say is this.
Commit crimes, wage all kinds of rudeness and bile, and thats fine....
But
Dare to legitimately purchase a Range Rover with your own hard-earned legitimate money at a perfectly legitimate Range Rover dealership and WOE BETIDE YOU!!!
surely a dictator would have seized power and kept it by force.....as i recall your wee commie friend was democratically elected......and im sure he will be democratically ousted come re-election should the great unwashed feel he has done a poor job....
It's not just SUVs that are affected. It's any car with a high tax band. My Alfa 147 1.6 has a high tax band. It doesn't "guzzle gas" and it doesn't take up any extra space.
Unfortunately one of the reasons that this parking tax has gone through is because the voting people of Richmond were 49% in favour to 39% against (12% undecided presumably). If the people of Richmond felt strongly against this then they should have voted that way.
Palmy, if people voted for it how is it a dictatorship?
I can understand the need for a Range Rover in rural areas, but Richmond?
I work in the motor industry, but ignoring the effects of road transport on the planet is rank arrogance. The only way people change is to penalise them in the pocket. Statistically the cost of motoring is relatively less than twenty years ago.
I am always amazed when I come back to UK at the obsession people have with cars, it is neither healthy for their finances or the enviroment. I have recently dispensed with a vehicle altogether in UK, and only hire one if I need to.
The motor industry is starting to change, remember there was a proposal in Germany in the 1970's that even MB signed up to, saying they could power all vehicles in their range even if limited to a 1,8 Litre power plant.
I can understand the frustration here but all the Government (be this at a national or local level) are doing is pre-empting the market. As oil scarcity increases so will its price forcing car owners into smaller, more efficient vehicles. Any fool can see this (there's even historical precedent, remember the 2 litre Ferrari in response to the oil crisis in the 70's?), ditto our elected representatives. Since its going to happen anyway, why not make a profit out of giving people a nudge?
I'm not too keen on it either but the incentive is a) obvious , and b) merely a derivative of the arbitrage principle used in the very free markets those in power are accused here of being against.
If you want a Rangie, you can still have one. It'll just cost you more a bit sooner than otherwise. It's a p*sser but that's the way the cookie crumbles.
_________________________ "Forward", he cried, from the rear, and the front rank died. And the General sat, and the lines on the map moved from side to side.
Many clients of mine are planning to leave the UK in the future, and I dont plan a retirement here thats for sure.
Que rojito! It's all part of a plan to reduce pensions: Action: Pass laws that get all the blowhards puffing and panting and going red at the gills and, bingo. Lots of heart-attacks among the seething classes. Net result: lower pensions bill in 30 years.
You do get yourself a bit worked up on this stuff Palmira, just chill out a bit. You'll find that these things have a way of sorting themselves out.
Well we're safe for now. Thank goodness we're in a bowling alley.
Palmira, with respect, I don't understand your complaint!
You don't drive an SUV so you'll only be paying £43 per year - that's around £3.50 per month. Looking through some of your posts you come across as a very wealthy retired individual, someone like a captain of multi-national industry.
So why does £43 per year bother you so much. Surely a slight tax hike will get poorer people off the roads so that very wealthy people like you have less traffic to worry about?
People buy big/posh cars because they like cars; people who buy pathetic euro boxes that find favour with the government are largely apathetic to the issue. Having a posh car is something people get through their own free will… they should not have to incur an added punitive charge from malingering twits that wouldn’t normally know a Kia from a Merc; except of course when they decide they want more tax money to waste.
£1 (and sometimes more) per mile charging on many roads will, sadly, say goodbye to motoring as we know it anyway.
Even the 30p per mile on lanes is going to be crippling for many people. As well as dragging almost everyone off major roads and onto those lanes.
I wouldn't class myself as hard up, but there is no way i will be able to afford to go where i currently do at the times i do, having seen the predicted charges coming out.
OK boys and girls lets think about this a bit. SUVs are being targetted by a stealth taxation in putting up parking permits and one way of looking at it is thats its mad because they are parked and thus not polluting. You then have the argument that they are not polluting when they are parked. So, lets have a look at the other side of the coin for a moment.... do you support taxation of cigarettes? alcohol? and the prohibition on drugs? these are all in place because excess of any is deemed to be socially unacceptable. SUVs have been demonised in the same way ny those who run the social agenda (th politicians YOU elect) therefore, if you are concerned about erosion of your liberty to own a SUV vote for someone else! or look at it this way, just be glad that the tax isnt based (as some people may want it) on purchase price of your vehicle as all of a sudden its not just SUVs but an awful lot more that will be paying. Therein lies the real issue, its not about pollution its about taxing the rich who (particularly in certain areas) show their wealth through the procurement of large SUVS. As a substantial earner I couldnt give a flying **** that i am being asked to pay £300 to park as its an insignificant amount. You have to remember that ability to pay taxation whether stealth or open is linked to earnings and £300 is a drop in the ocean to many people in Richmond.
On another point since when can we really call Range Rover British?
Wobble, you are spot on and I totally agree with you.
Craig, I have to say I do not agree here.
The socialists have been squeezing everyone until they have no freedom left.
It is NOT the job of a meddling anti-car government to tell us what kind of cars we should buy. That is wholly unacceptable.
My complaint is that these desk-bound public-sector lefties who have never been out into the real world (their lives are school to university to lecturing post to local government) have no right to tell us how to go about our daily lives and to tell us what we can or cannot park outside our own houses.
Stealth taxation will remove the country of its highest earners because they will have had enough of being unfairly penalised, and the hard-working families to whom £300 is alot of money with MPVs will suffer.
Autobahn I am 31 years old & a long way from retired. I work on average 70 hours a week and because I am self-employed I take all the risks associated with being self-sufficient.
I paid a fortune in tax last year, the benefit of which I never see.
RE: the figures published by the lefties that 49 percent voted in favour. No they did not. This is a corrupt socialist dicatorship who make it all up as they go along. The majority of residents in this Borough are most upset about being ripped off even further. We have 5109 SUVs registered in the London Borough of Richmond upon Thames - the third highest number registered in any borough in the UK - (Westminster and Kensington & Chelsea are numbers 1 & 2) so the bigots decided we can all afford to be ripped off to support the attitude-ridden generations of feckless workshy criminals who demand a free house, benefits etc.
Craig - we call Range Rover a British manufacturer since their factory is in Warwickshire and it employs British engineers, designers and factory workers.
THAT constitutes BRITISH.
We should support the Range Rover, not only because it is British, but because it is about the only thing left which is made in Britain that is absolutely world class.
Concorde, the Naval Fleet and the rest of the car and motorcycle industry died due to socialist government, weak management and trade union bullies.
This lot are no better - Ken Livingstone is one of those 70s hardliners.
British to me means that the money and wealth created by the product stays here and not go to a "parent" company in another country but i take your point.
Although i partially agree with your view of the 70s car industry it wasnt all down to government, weak managers and strong trade unions it was about the products. I mean line up a 1976 VW Golf and place it next to an Allegro and WHO in their right mind on the key export market was going to buy an Allegro?! At home things where a bit different as many buyers were wary of so called "foreign" cars and to my mind the fact that we are no longer bigoted like that is a positive thing. You are a man who always talks about freedom to buy what you want and do what you want but when people mention things like buying a Hyundai you go all "ban them" which is surely opposite to the views you seem to hold quite dear. In doing so you demonstrate a similar dislike for something as Ken has its just that you would be charging KIA and Hyundai owners £400 a year to park and anyone else the £43 or whatever it is.
I look at it this way, buy, drive, own, eat, drink whatever you like but if your purchase is a lavish one be prepared to pay more for it in terms of tax. Where the SUV permit argument falls down is the fact that many of them are NOT expensive and you are then being penalised for your lifestyle. However, this is no different to people who drink and smoke a lot as driving gas guzzling cars in the age of global warming is seen by many to be socially unacceptable. Them fact they have started on SUVs is simply because carss like the RR are a symbol of consumption and city bonuses etc. I am willing to bet that within 12 months it will be all cars of a certain class or purcahse price. Better start saving up to pay to park your S-classes!
There is, of course, for mobile people (socially, politically and physically) an alternative - MOVE! you dont have to live in Richmond. I travel into central london most days from further out and its no bother.
