The "green levy" on motorists announced in Alistair
Darling's first Budget will double car tax revenue to £4
billion but reduce vehicle emissions by less than one per
cent, Treasury figures have showed.
The Chancellor announced a significant increase in car tax
in March.
This will result in the owners of family cars, estates and
people carriers paying hundreds of pounds a year more to use
the roads.
Mr Darling claimed that the duty increase was designed to
encourage motorists to switch to greener cars and to reduce
the environmental impact of driving.
However, the Telegraph has seen Treasury projections which
disclose that while the amount raised from car tax will more
than double - from £1.9 billion to £4.4 billion
by 2010 - carbon dioxide emissions from motoring are expected
to drop by less than one per cent.
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Justine Greening, a shadow Treasury minister who obtained
the figures, said last night: "This is a massive tax
hike which will have virtually no impact on the environment.
"Despite their claims, the Government don't expect this
move to change behaviour at all - it is just another eco-stealth
tax of the worst kind."
