http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk_politics/8011882.stm

That’s what the car industry needs an extra £1000 banger scrappage tax. Or something to muck up its pricing strategy.

Unfortunately the Mondeo is only 9 years old come March 2010. I will have to hang on to it in the hope the scheme is extended.

As for who this is to benefit – the ruling classes. They are seeking to keep the current economic system going through yet another crisis.
They also cannot cut state run services for political reasons, and keeping things going at the same level needs an ever increasing amount of money.

I can’t help but feel that something’s got to give, and its not going to be pleasant for some people when it does…

You have also got the fact that Cameron will either have to repeal it (sending out the wrong messages politically, however right it may be economically) or keep it (conceding a kind of victory to Labour).

Now you may well say that it won’t work & if anything further pain will be felt by low earners. But most low & medium earners will not take such a long-term view.

Do not be at all surprised if the Daily Mail etc support rich-bashing. They are interested in what sells, & lower-middle-class tossers have never been friends to high earners. No one would care what is right.

As usual with this government it is politics not statesmanship. So even if this policy turns out to be utter shite, they are celebrating at the fact that they’ve wrongfooted the Tories & any harm they do will not be attributed to them as most voters do not have a long enough attention span to do any such thing.

The statements by Philip Hammond on behalf of Camoron is worthy of note re: this.

“We are not going to make a commitment to repeal the 50p tax rate,” he said, adding the Tories would instead seek to reduce the tax burden for those on middle and lower incomes.

“We are going to focus on the taxes for the many.”

Two points:

-How, the hell, with cars as good as this hitting ten years (and I’ve had 16 years old cars that were just as great), and all the technological advancements they have taken to make them this good, can it be HUMANLY possible for people to regard them as scrap. Even averaging 20mpg (lots of small distances and a lead foot) there is no way on earth that it is ‘more sustainable’ to destroy these things and buy new ones.

-However, I paid 2 grand for it. Good to hear that I can keep it for another 200 thousand miles and still get 2 grand for it…

Right, moving on from the bit where we obviously disagree to where I actually agree with you. 3.5% is stupidly optimistic and its optimistic for precisely the reasons stated above that the tax cuts havent come and as a consequences of us seeing the increased consumer spending needed to provide that sort of growth are zip-de-do-dah….

The thing about scrappage is that you are probably right but it’s in there as a political sop because the Treasuary cant afford a proper stimulus which the motor industry probably needs….

I’m hoping that they cynically did some maths and worked out that few people would be able to take it up anyway. Which would make it an expensive soundbite, but not as expensive as it might be. Who, after all, runs a 10 year old car, but doesn’t buy second hand? This is if they are smart enough to stop the secondary market, using DVLA records. But I doubt it.

Oh and it does nothing for the environment, but we know that right?