"Chris Jones" wrote in message
...
But it hasn't been funded by road tax. It has been funded privately,
and ultimately by the people who use it. What is wrong with the user
pays principle?

That's fine. However, it doesn't change the fact that the government
should
still build a publicly-funded alternative to the M6 - we shouldn't be in
the
situation where congestion is so bad that we have to use a private
pay-extra
option. It's like giving up on the NHS and telling everyone to get private
health care.

And if that's the route they want to take, then they can damn well abolish
road tax.



The thing is, if you build the M6 bypass from general taxation, then you are
effectively subsidising those who use it. You might argue that motorists at
large will pay for it, and motorists at large will benefit from it, but in
reality it is only a small group of people who will benefit from it, yet if
it were paid for through general taxation, a large group of people would be
paying for it.

The Government should not be subsidising things that bring a high benefit
(and have a high cost) to a small number of people.

Besides, if it weren't going to be a toll road, it would fill up with
traffic and be no better than the normal M6, and we would be back to square
one despite having spent £900 million.