'Get a paper round!' Tony Blair told to stay out of it with ridiculous car tax plan
COLUMNIST Angela Epstein slammed the Former Prime Minister for new car tax plan, saying he should "do something else with his free time".
Tony Blair ‘should get a paper round’ says Angela Epstein
Columnist Angela Epstein has slammed the former Prime Minister Tony Blair for the proposed new road pricing structure, saying he should “get a paper round” with his free time. The slamming came after the Tony Blair Institute announced a “real urgency” for tax changes to avoid “political problems”.
Speaking on Jeremy Vine show on Five, Angela Epstein argued: “Tony Blair should go and get a paper round or do something else with his free time.
“I mean, we are the highest tax motorists in the world in this country.
“We pay fuel tax, we pay petrol, we pay road tax, we pay car Tax. Tax. Tax. Tax.”
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She continued: “We are such a cash cow. We are such an easy target.
“And because of the advent of electricity the government is going to lose all the revenue from fuel duty.
“Well, we need to think of some other way to do it.”
She went on: “What about the people who live in rural areas who don't have the connectivity and public transport if you pay per mile?
“Or you've got somebody, God forbid, who's again, in a rural area and they need to take a family member for chemotherapy in a major city?
“I've known people who've been stuck in rural Wales have to come to Manchester, that kind of stuff.”
Ms Epstein added: “There's lots of reasons. It's not just because we're all gas guzzlers.”
Tony Blair Institute for Global Change, a think tank recommended the introduction of road pricing, with motorists being taxed on the size of their vehicle and the time they used the roads.
The report mentioned that chancellor Rishi Sunak is facing a black hole of £30 billion in lost taxes as a result of people using electric cars, who no longer pay fuel duty.
A spokesman said: "We need to ensure that the tax system encourages the uptake of electric vehicles and that revenue from motoring taxes keeps pace with that change.
"We will set out our further plans in due course."