Drivers face further costs

Pay, pay and pay again. The latest scheme for road charging is a massive exercise in taxation and surveillance. It should be strangled at birth.

Sir Rod Eddington’s report proposes charging motorists by the mile to reduce congestion and harmful emissions.

But British motorists are already charged for the privilege of using the roads. In fact, we are charged twice.

The first charge is the billions of pounds collected every year in vehicle excise duty. It may be called “road tax” but only a fraction of this massive sum is spent on the highways.

The second charge is the duty imposed on every gallon of petrol and diesel. We are an oil-producing country and yet fuel at UK pumps is among the most expensive in the world.

Hammered with road tax, hammered with duty, the new plan is to hammer the motorists once again with charges of more than £1 per mile at peak times.

And in order to make pay-per-mile work, every single journey will be monitored, either by cameras or satellites. It is a dictator’s dream.

Is there a better way? Of course there is. Indeed, it’s hard to imagine anything worse.

For a start, we need to spend more money on roads, particularly at “pinch points,” such as the M6/M5 junction. It is bizarre that governments and councils throw countless billions at railways and trams but do so little to build and repair roads.

We need to hunt down the estimated one million tax and insurance dodgers who have no right to be there.

We need better public transport to lure drivers off the roads. We need cleaner fuels and more efficient engines.

In short, we need imagination.

Endlessly taxing family car owners and freight companies - the lifeblood of our economy - will create many more problems than it solves.

Proud roots of well loved brew

What’s in a name? The new Icelandic owners of Beatties may not understand the importance of a good brand, but Wolverhampton & Dudley Breweries certainly do.

The controversial plan to replace the name of Beatties stores with House of Fraser goes ahead. But the brewery is sticking with something tried and trusted.

While its corporate name is changing to Marston’s - the best-known brand in the W&D range - beer brewed in Wolverhampton will still be Banks’s. And rightly so. Banks’s is as much a part of the Black Country as forges, foundries and faggots and peas.

This is a move that recognises the importance not only of a strong national image but also of local pride.

Our message to House of Fraser? Look and learn.