RAC comments on motoring pledges within the Liberal Democrat election manifesto

RAC chief engineer David Bizley said: “The Lib Dem plans for a reform of Vehicle Excise Duty (VED) will require further scrutiny, as ultimately motorists will want to know whether or not they may end up paying more in tax.

“There is an important balance that would need to be struck here. On the one hand it is right that the tax system incentivises the purchase of more efficient vehicles; however for many years VED has been a sliding scale based on a vehicle’s CO2 emissions, which incentivised the widespread purchase of new diesel cars. The RAC is looking for reassurances that any new tax bandings would not unfairly penalise such motorists who previously chose diesel in good faith based upon advice from scientists and encouraged by the Government.

“On fuel, motorists in rural areas would welcome the continuation of the fuel discount scheme, although it is the case that this is not entirely within any UK government’s control. The RAC was pleased to see further locations benefit this year but there are many more remote communities that rely heavily on their vehicles, yet get stung with considerably higher fuel costs than those in our towns and cities.”