“Peter Gibson has just said that the average commute distance is 8 miles. That sounds easy to cycle to me.”

“I work at boots on the 6am to 10am shift and it takes 2 hours to get to work and 2 back on the bus service. Problem being buses don't start till 5am so i can't get to work without having a car. As you can guess i don't earn alot in 20 hours a week so if this charge does get passed on to us i'll be losing alot of cash. The whole scheme is flawed. I earn about £30 a day and if i use the bus it will cost me £8 for transport. I am not amused, I am considering getting out of england all together because its become and international joke to live here..”

“"by the time of its March 2008 accounts it had managed to make a pre-tax loss of £64m.

So, your point is?"

Which they will use to offset their profits in another part of the world and thus pay no tax in this country.”

“B J, thanks for that but I already knew overall vehicle related taxes raise more than is spent on the roads.

I'm interested in this...

"and as little as 5% of the revenue raised from the road fund license has actually been spent on the roads network"

...is this correct or not?”

“As for your other current obsession:

In the financial year 2006/7 vehicle excise duty raised £5.22 billion. Expenditure on roads just in England was £7 billion.

Motorists *additional* taxation raises approaching £50 *BILLION* a *YEAR* .

Yes, that's not just road tax, not just fuel duty, not just VAT on fuel, but VAT *on* *DUTY* , Insurance Premium Tax, etc, etc.

Note that, uniquely, motoring accidents, or rather, *road* accidents, are paid for by *MOTORISTS* insurers.

*INCLUDING* NHS costs.

*Policing* costs.

As well as costs of repairs to the road and surroundings!

As is the "cost" of policing (such as it is) car crime.

Imagine if a loved one of yours were murdered.

How would you react if the police rang you up to tell you they'd found the body (last week) and you could come to collect it for a recovery fee.

Once you'd paid the storage costs!

.

But I digress.

Out of that £50 *BILLION* they get £7 billion "invested" in"roads" (ie partial and even total roads *closures* !).

And the government spends around another £10 BILLION on gthe 11,000 miles of rail (compared to hundreds of thousands of miles of roads getting £7 billion).

And around another £10 BILLION on buses!

Now, if public transport, especially rail based public transport) is so efficient:

How come, when motorists have to pay *all* their own costs.

Plus half the cost of public transport.

Plus a similar amount in general public expenditure.

And public transport users only pay *half* the cost of their travel:

How come the car is usually *STILL* cheaper?

As well as usually quicker!”

“As for paying 20% of your "profit in tax, most ( *non* 40%) taxpayers pay 25-30% straight out of their wages,

That's before council tax and motorists taxes.”

“And putting:

'tax' , 'gap' and 'boots'

Into Google as you demanded and looking at *YOUR* Grauniad article gives us:

by the time of its March 2008 accounts it had managed to make a pre-tax loss of £64m.

So, your point is?”

“Errrrmmmmm, MadBadger.

Ever thought that he's telling you something he knows and understands that you can't necessarily find out by simply googling it and reading what comes up in the first precis?

Ever thought that you neither know or understand what you are talking about.

I gave up counting after half a dozen erroneous references to "Boot's" "profit" of "£600 million".

It's not Boot's, it's the heath and beauty division of alliance, operating in over half a dozen worldwide locations, only part of which happens to be Boots.

And it's not "profit".

It's operating profit.

Just like"successful" NET's massive "profit".

Which is actually a massive loss.

.

So why doesn't successful NET fund Phase 2 out of it's wonderful profits?!?!?!

.

Answer the question.

Put up.

Or shut UP!”

“You know what, Andyman, you are full of BS.

I ask questions to see if the poster understands or can prove what they've posted instead of posting opinion as fact.

I like the way you side-step the question about YOUR understanding of inward investment, I mean, surely you, with your extensive knowledge of business can give us all the benefit of your expertise in this area.

As for plucking a year to prove my point, all I did was google 'roads expenditure' in a UK search and the report I quoted from was the first article. Now, can you point to where you read that...

"and as little as 5% of the revenue raised from the road fund license has actually been spent on the roads network"

or can you not? And I don't mean airily referring to a 'well-reported media story'. That doesn't make it correct and to be honest I would have to take a report on road expenditure from a motoring medium with a pinch of salt as they're hardly likely to be unbiased.

Overall, most of what you accuse me of in your little rantette is precisely why I think you're an idiot. You post as though everything you say is true but when asked to never back it up. Just like with the eco-towns thread.”

“Errrmmmmmmm, Stanley.

Most people use most forms of transport as and when appropriate.

The question is why people who only use the tram should have a massive subsidy.

People who only use the bus should have a big subsidy.

While people who also use the car, especially those who have no choice but to use the car, and to use it a lot, should have to pay all the subsidies.”