British government to compensate owners of diesel powered
cars about £1,000 to £2,000 or more, as they enter a scrappage agreement after
the PM overruled two cabinet ministers.
This is being done as the government perfects plan on how to
tackle air pollution in the country. The measure will get worst offending cars
off the British road.
Theresa May’s intervention is said to have come in as a
measure to ease the concern being raised after a proposal was made to introduce
“toxin taxes” on diesel vehicles in around nine or 10 cities while a further 25
councils being told to enforce less draconian measures.
Both the Environment Secretary Andrea Leadsom and Chris
Grayling, Transport Secretary, are said to have opposed the plan as they saw it
as being difficult to target the problem cars.
The said payment would only be made to the owners of the
car, provided they agree to buy a new low-emission car
According to statistics, there are about 11.2 million diesel
cars in the using UK roads, out of which 1.9 are said to over 12 years old.
Therefore, if the UK government make it a duty to focus the
five most affected cities outside London (Leeds, Derby, Southampton, Birmingham
and Nottingham), that will bring about 100,000 to 150,000 being scrapped.
President of the AA Edmund King said: “It could be fiscally
neutral. If it is dependent on the purchase of a new low-emission car, the
government will automatically get 20 percent VAT, plus on most new cars there
is an addition to the vehicle excise duty.”
Also, Director of the RAC Foundation Steve Gooding expected
difficulties with the scheme. He said: “It is not a simple matter of taking the
oldest cars out of circulation.
“The worst polluters could well be much more recent models
that do high mileages in congested towns and cities.”
A survey which was conducted in March revealed that 68% of
drivers are in support of a scrappage arrangement, while only 10% were against
it.
During the era of Tony blair, car drivers were advised to change
from petrol powered cars, but now, Theresa May has stated how that would be taken “into account” in future plans.
During a recent trip to the Middle East, Mrs May said: “In
relation to the issue of diesel cars, obviously we will be producing a new air
quality plan, we've been required to do that by the courts.
“Decisions will be taken when we produce that plan –
obviously we will take final decisions as to what we do.
“But I'm very conscious of the fact that past governments
have encouraged people to buy diesel cars and we need to take that into account
when we're looking at what we do in the future.”
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