Mar 2009 27

Say no to the Westminster Bike Tax next Tuesday12

This is a call to arms: next Tuesday 31st March at 5pm in Trafalgar Square, and then 6.45pm outside Westminster City Hall on Victoria Street, the TPA will be joining a mass protest against one of the most poorly thought out, unfair and misguided stealth taxes in British local government. Full details can be found here.

Westminster City Council's decision to tax motorbikes and scooters for parking in the Borough when it was previously free is harming the local economy, punishing commuters and residents unfairly and contravening the Mayor of London's stated intention to get more people on two wheels instead of four in order to help reduce congestion.

It's unbelievable that any council, with the economy in the grip of a severe recession, could think it is justified or desirable to suck millions of pounds out of the local economy with a stealth tax. By comparison, Kensington and Chelsea have introduced free parking to try to boost local trade. Westminster seem happy to be raking in revenue at the expense of local jobs.

As taxpayers, we should all rally round to oppose this greedy stealth tax. As we can see from the boom in stealth taxes on all sorts of different activities in recent years, if councils think they can get away with picking on particular groups, they will do so. Some of Westminster's councillors seem to think they can not only disregard economic reality and public opinion, they can actualy respond to petitioning from the public with abuse. Well no longer.

At the protest on Tuesday there will be over 1,000 bikers, local residents and taxpayer activists showing WCC that it is totally unacceptable to slap stealth taxes on anyone. We will start off with speeches in Trafalgar Square, the protest will move down to Victoria Street. Once we arrive, a group of us will go inside to give evidence to the council's Scrutiny Committe about why the new tax should be ditched. I'll be giving evidence on behalf of the TaxPayers' Alliance, and there will be evidence given by representatives of road users and local residents, all united to ditch the bike tax.

As well as the speeches in Trafalgar Square, when we reach Victoria Street the meeting will be piped outside to the massed protesters. Do come along to show your opposition to stealth taxing councils – this effects all of us, and if Westminster get away with it, then other councils will certainly follow suit.

No-one can afford higher taxes in the current economic climate, and the TPA is proud to be working with the campaign against the Westminster Bike Tax. The No To The Bike Parking Tax campaign are an energetic, self-starting group of grasroots protesters standing up against something they believe to be wrong. It's refreshing to see more and more taxpayers getting active and fighting back – I'm delighted to report that this excellent group are officially becoming part of the TaxPayers' Alliance.

Here's their latest campaign video, to get you really fired up:

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  • http://www.gocmc.org Gary

    I’m so glad people are seeing this as a stealth tax and not just about commuters, in no small thanks to tpa :)
    Great support and I’ll hopefully see you all there.
    Thanks,
    Gary

  • http://www.31st-march.com/ 31st March

    This IS a tax without a doubt and it needs to be scrapped immediately!
    I’ll be there supporting motorcycle and scooter riders on 31st March!
    Spread the word http://www.31st-march.com

  • Peter

    This is just a tax that Westminster thought they would quietly bring in as a result of having lost £17m invested in failed Icelandic Banks. Well, Westminster will not get away with this tax. United all together, we will force Westminster to scrap it.

  • Mal (Tramp) Dunn

    Born Free, Taxed till Death and beyond. Come the revolution brothers, power to the people lets get these robbing B!?!?!ds out. Next you’ll be taxed on the breath you take. Cos they will have run out of bloody things to tax.

  • http://www.cameron-dg.com John Cameron

    Why is Westminster travelling in the opposite direction when it’s own party’s policy document ‘A FAIR DEAL FOR MOTORCYCLISTS’ promises “we will support local authorities who provide more free on-street and off-street parking for motorcycles and mopeds.”?
    What will Westminster Council do when they have successfully deterred powered two wheelers from the city and need another source of income?
    What’s next? Charging cyclists for “safe” bike racks?
    Powered two wheel transport in an integral part of the solution to mobility in the capital not another opportunity for a stealth tax.

  • http://thepixelrat.com Dawid

    I will see you there!
    No more unfair charges!

  • marc

    unjustifiable and disgusting tax instigated by an absolute bunch of swines with noses deep in the trough

  • Keith

    As a disabled person, i sent my concerns and a number of questions to Wesminster council and the various other parties involved with this cash generating operation twice now. To date, none have condecended to acnowledge, let alone answer them.
    It would appear that none of them can justify the actions proposed – confirming by default that this is purely a wallet filling exercise, at the expense of what is deemed to be an easy target that the general public would not support.
    Many thanks to the TPA for the recognition and help, lets hope many more see through this and step up to the plate!

  • Dr Ian Garrard

    If just half the people currently using cars in London went onto motorcycles, the traffic would flow freely without jams, there would be less polution and less damage to the roads. So if motorcycles are the solution, why are they being penalised in this manner? I am fully in support of their campaign.

  • Dr Christopher George

    I shall be there. The “claim” on the Westminster parking website that this parking tax has been brought in to ease congestion to be characteristic of the whole charade. What they should be doing is the exact opposite – more and free bike parks. Less road tax. etc etc obviously with due regard to local bike residents who should have prioritised ones or parts of each one.
    What a waste of energy when the solution is so obvious…
    Chris George

  • David Naish

    I had correspondence with Westminster council after I complained about the charge and was sent a standard letter. I pointed out that with 6,100 spaces at £1.50 a time 5 days a week not including fines there is a potential for £2.3 million. They pointed out the money would be used to set up the scheme and fund further parking bays. I asked if the charge would be removed when the costs had been recouped. This is the actual reply I received.
    “the charges for motorcycle charging will be on-going and the money gained fromt eh scheme will be used to maintain the the bays and to carry out furhter surveys to see where new bays are needed and to make further improvements. the money will also be used to finance other parking projects.
    regards
    Gemma”
    If only we could all put this down to expenses and get someone else to pay for it eh Home Secretary?….

  • Andy Warren

    Thank you, thank you, thank you for taking us motorcyclists seriously. Westminster council has always been pernicious in its quest to raise money. Increasing the number of bike parking bays is easy – just extend them into the adjacent no longer used (thanks to the Congestion Charge) car parking spaces. Surely it can’t cost that much to paint a few letters on the road! My fear is that when we win this the council will start closing down the existing bike parking bays. we must be on our guard. Once again, thank you TPA for recognising our stand against this stealth tax.
    Andy Warren