09 Dec 2009

Commenting on the Chancellor’s pre-budget report, the director of the RAC Foundation Professor Stephen Glaister said:

“The incentive for companies to go electrify their car fleets is to be welcomed as this will help provide a mass market for low-carbon vehicles and encourage a charging infrastructure to be established.”

“Motorists’ relief that no more fuel duty rises were announced today will be short lived. VAT will return to 17.5% on January 1st and that means the current price of a litre of unleaded petrol will go up by 2.5p. And all this is before the 1p above inflation rise already planned for April, and speculation of a further VAT increase after the election.”

 “While the commitment to continue the M1 upgrade is good news, the medium term outlook for road building and maintenance programs is bleak. Motorists should get used to potholes, as there is little chance of them being filled as the spending squeeze continues to bite and highways spending slips even further down the priority list.”