How green is my tax bill…
The public have a dim view of politicians’ promises on taxes. They either think that taxes will go up anyway, despite promises to the contrary, or that money raising wheezes like clusters of speed cameras that have precious little to do with road safety and when the original purpose has been lost.
Somehow I get the sense, from letters and constituents’ comments, that the weight of taxation is now really beginning to be felt. If green issues are simply a way for Gordon Brown to raise more by stealth, public support for combating climate change will evaporate.
David Cameron has led the charge, to great effect. Following the Stern Report, I suspect that businesses will be falling over themselves to provide market based solutions to environmental problems, and that is to be wholly welcomed. With this Government’s appalling record of NHS mismanagement, the wrong IT and micro-control of the economy, the public have every right to feel cautious. It is too important an issue to be left to this Government, which is less and less trusted each day.