No philosophical musings on the first-mentioned pro tem, but the fact that we can take the tax discs off our windscreens from tomorrow prompts me to wonder whether govt is, as usual, missing the point. The Vehicle Excise Duty (VED) started life as the Road Tax. A brief sojourn on our roads more than demonstrates that that has long since since ceased to have any effect on the dreadful condition of our roads. (I'll save a rant on how the dismantling of British Railways has forced people into private cars for another time.)
The VED now involves an incredibly complex system of taxing vehicles according to their emissions. I drive maybe 3000 miles a year in the UK, and pay the same as for a similar vehicle that drives 80000. The obvious answer is to shut down the 'road tax' collection outfit and collect the tax in extra duty on fuel. Government can excuse its vast expense on number plate recognition cameras by collecting the odd 'no insurance' fine. The clincher is that in France, which has adopted the approach I advocate, diesel is 30% cheaper than in the UK. (OK: I know - this has more to do with the truckers' lobby than economics, and I'd pay more tax on French fuel to get some of the trucks off the road.)
As for the last, lacking descendants, we can just apply ourselves to the garden. Cuttings taken from cistus, penstemon, numerous potentillas and fuchsias seem to be happy, but it's early days.
Oh, and the duck is back.
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