6.05.2005

1984 comes 21 years late

The British government wants to monitor the movement of every car in Britain by GPS.
Alistair Darling, the Secretary of State for Transport, revealed that pilot areas will be selected in just 24 months' time as he made clear his determination to press ahead with a national road pricing scheme.

Each of Britain's 24 million vehicles would be tracked by satellite if a variable "pay-as-you-drive" charge replaces the current road tax.

The purported reason for this gross invasion of privacy is to make a road tax proportional to the amount of driving people do. But a gas tax accomplishes the same thing, with the additional benefit of encouraging fuel-efficient cars. Another use would be to charge additional fees for driving in congested central city areas during peak hours, but this can be managed (and already is in some places) with toll booths and electronic tags.

Similar horrible ideas have been proposed in California, where the insane left-wing legislators' lust for more taxes has eclipsed their interest in both civil liberties and the environment.

Patterico and the Jawa Report have more. A big roundup at FullosseousFlap's.

HT: The Agitator via Alarming News.

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