On Wed, 27 Jun 2007, R.C. Payne wrote:

NM wrote:
Brimstone wrote:
"NM" wrote in message
...
Brimstone wrote:
"NM" wrote in message
...
Brimstone wrote:

Railborne freight receives no subsidy, unlike lorries.

Where exactly do I apply for my lorry subsidy?

It's provided automatically, without application.
In your mind perhaps, dream on, don't let reality get in the way.

You've obviously forgotton about the rate of VED on lorries when the
present government came into power and what it is now?

No I havn't, I just realise thet the total amount collected by ved and fuel
tax is more than three times the amount spent on the roads.

I say the sooner we privatise the whole lot of the trunk road network
the better. We are not a communist state, there should not be thousands
of miles of highly expensive trunk road built and maintained out of
central government funds (taxes are not hypothecated in the UK)

Ironically, the US interstate highway network was built specifically to
prevent that country becoming a communist state, but i digress.

with zero accountability. Then the private owner can charge different
classes of vehicle a toll as appropriate to the cost to them to provide
the service to that class of vehicle.

Or alternatively, he can charge however much he can get away with. The
only way to get efficient pricing would be through competition, and if you
think having multiple competing motorways running along every corridor is
a good idea, i suggest you go to a doctor to get your head examined. You
might like to stop off at a library and look up 'natural monopoly' in an
economics textbook while you're out.

tom

--
Interesting, but possibly aimed at madmen. -- Charlie Brooker, on
Torchwood