'Porsche Challenges Congestion Charge'

Max_Damage

Porsche Challenges Congestion Charge

Updated:18:57, Tuesday February 19, 2008
Supercar company Porsche is launching a legal challenge to London mayor Ken Livingstone's new congestion charge.

The mayor announced this month that vehicles with high emissions would be charged £25 a day to drive into central London.

The increase is set to come into force in October.

German-owned Porsche says it will apply for a judicial review that could see the decision overturned.

It says the increase - from the current rate of £8 a day or 80p for people who live in the congestion zone - is disproportionate and that it will do nothing to decrease pollution.
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Andy Goss, managing director of Porsche Cars GB, said: "A massive congestion charge increase is quite simply unjust.

"Thousands of car owners will be hit by a disproportionate tax, which it is clear will have a very limited effect on CO2 emissions.

"Not only is this rise completely unfair to many drivers, but it will also damage London based-businesses of all sizes, and successful people from across the world will start to think twice about basing themselves here if they think they are going to be used as cash cows for City Hall.

"The proposed increase will be bad for London as a whole and will send out the signal that it is not serious about establishing itself as the best place in the world to do business."

Porsche will be writing to Mr Livingstone this week. The mayor will then have 14 days to respond.

If he fails to do so or refuses to reconsider the plan, the company will formally submit its application for a judicial review to the Royal Courts of Justice in London.

http://news.sky.com/skynews/article/0,,30100-1305934,00.html

About time someone challenges 'Red Ken' and his radical left-wing anti-car ideas.

Anan1

Poor Porsche. I wouldn't hold my breath.;)

E92

Good to see that some companies have the balls to say they won't tolerate this. What it amounts to really is that Red Ken being the left wing socialist he is, hates people who have a bit of money and want to buy good cars. If Porsche loose this though, then expect to see loads more of these stupendous CO2 type taxes elsewhere in Europe. So much for Europe wanting to look after it's economy then, yeah right:rolleyes:.

Anan1

E92 wrote: »

What it amounts to really is that Red Ken being the left wing socialist he is, hates people who have a bit of money and want to buy good cars.

You mean he's jealous of their SUVs?;)

craichoe

I dunno, having so many cars in a city is a disaster.

They should stay out and have park+ride facilities.

Amterdam is quite possibly the worst frikkin city i've seen for total gridlock thats all the way out the motorway so it affects going to another city too or if your even passing close by. Some people take 80 km detours just to avoid it

Anan1

craichoe wrote: »

I dunno, having so many cars in a city is a disaster.

They should stay out and have park+ride facilities.

Agreed, this would make life more pleasant for everyone.

E92

Why not charge ALL cars the same amount then? Congestion is conghestion, it doesn't matter who is causing it.

Rainman1

craichoe wrote: »

They should stay out and have park+ride facilities.

Ha! Ha! Ha!, sorry don't mean to laugh, but you must never have had to live in London, the public transportation into the city is unusable due to chronic under investment and just to grind salt into the wound, Red Kens proposal of extending the congestion charge to everywhere inside the M25 will mean that most park+ride facilities in the London area would actually fall INSIDE the new congestion charge zone so you get hit for using the car to get to the bus, then hit again for parking and the bus ride. Make no mistake about it, this is 100% about money and nothing to do with congestion or pollution, I know, I lived there when Ken was playing his sneaky little tricks of getting the council to re-sequence the traffic lights before the congestion charge came in, causing total chaos in the city and then re-sequencing them back after the charge was brought in and claiming that the freeing of traffic was down to the congestion charge initiative. I got the hell out of there and moved to Cork in 2004 as I was sick to death of it, now they're talking about bringing the same chaos over here, what a joke.........

Anan1

E92 wrote: »

Why not charge ALL cars the same amount then? Congestion is conghestion, it doesn't matter who is causing it.

To discourage people from buying higher-emissions vehicles?

I.S.T.

Rainman1 wrote: »

...Make no mistake about it, this is 100% about money and nothing to do with congestion or pollution,....

Have to agree with you there, afterall they have just introduced a "Low Emission Zone" (http://www.tfl.gov.uk/roadusers/lez/default.aspx) and should have used this to discourage pollution, not included it in an increased "congestion charge"

Anan1

IrishSpeedTraps wrote: »

Have to agree with you there, afterall they have just introduced a "Low Emission Zone" (http://www.tfl.gov.uk/roadusers/lez/default.aspx) and should have used this to discourage pollution, not included it in an increased "congestion charge"

Wouldn't both be more effective, though?