Date published: 2006/05/11
The BBC says:
London's mayor has been accused of using the congestion charge to "boost his coffers" after announcing plans to raise it to £10 a day by 2008.
In a televised debate, Ken Livingstone said the £2 rise could be included in his next manifesto, and any extra money would go back into public transport.
But his political rivals and critics of the daily charge have accused him of using it to raise money.
...
When the charge - payable by motorists driving into central London - was introduced it was thought congestion fell by about a third.When the last rise was brought in in July, it fell a further 5%-6%. It is thought another rise will bring congestion down further, which the mayor has said is vital to keep it under control.
Of course this is basically a money-making exercise, as is almost everything else goverment does with respect to driving. And the goal posts always have to move to justify the existence of the overpaid bureaucrats who are running the scheme. If the citizens of London don't like it they can always kick Livingstone out. But many of the people impacted by this tax are not citizens of London, so have no vote. If they don't like it they can always boycott London and take their business elsewhere. They could also encourage their MPs to give less funding to London cultural institutions (such as museums) since if the people of London are telling the rest of the country to get lost, then the rest of the country should subsidise London less than it does.
_________________________________________________________
All material not included from other sources is copyright cambridge2000.com.
For further information or questions email: info [at] cambridge2000 [dot] com
(replace "[at]" with "@" and "[dot]" with ".").