The Daily Telegraph has launched a campaign today called Fair Deal for Drivers. This has come about after statistics showed the average motorist is paying more than £600 a year extra in tax under Labour. The organization is backed by Mp’s, charities and motoring groups all of whom are urging the Prime Minister to give cars users a better deal.

It is expected that the treasury will receive at least £48 billion in car related taxes this year.
With this growing evidence that drivers are being unfairly targeted by the Treasury, Gordon Brown is under pressure to reconsider a series of controversial tax rises.

The AA have compiled figures that show the average motorist has to pay out more than £1800 annually in fuel duty, car tax, VAT on petrol and other levies – all of which are an increase of more than 50 percent in just over a decade.

This years budget includes tax rises that take effect next year and could double the cost of vehicle excise duty for popular ‘school-run’ saloons to more than £400. This will also apply to cars bought over the last seven years.

The PM is also under pressure to scrap the 2p increase in fuel duty, which has already been pushed back until the autumn. The treasury receives 64p from every £1 of fuel purchased.

There are around 27 million motorists in the UK with each driver paying an average of £1,811 to the Exchequer every year – an increase of £652 over the past decade.

AA president Edmund King, said: “This campaign is needed because it appears the car is seen and taxed as a luxury rather than a necessity. Motorists are now taxed at a higher rate than champagne drinkers but for the vast majority of people driving is an absolute necessity.

“The high taxes are now affecting people’s lives and families are having to cut back on other areas of spending to pay for their cars. What is really hitting people are these plans for retrospective taxes.

“The Prime Minister should now be listening to these concerns.”

The new director of the RAC Foundation, added: “There is no logic behind the fact that the Government now spends far less on roads than it collects in motoring taxes.

“In the 1970s they were in balance, but tax revenues have grown in line with road use, while spend on provision has fallen.

“Road users must expect to pay for such environmental and other damages as they cause to others: and they do. But this does not account for the imbalance.

“It is not reasonable that roads have become treated as a ready source of funds for all the Government’s activities.”

Critics have also noted that while the revenue from the Treasury is almost £50 billion, the total spending on roads is less than £8 billion.

In addition, suspicions of pay-as-you-drive road tolls are also present after Chancellor Alistair Darling earmarked money for trials of the technology needed for a nationwide scheme on motorways and key routes.

The tax rises are just another blow to motorists as petrol prices rise above £1.10 a litre for unleaded – near £5 a gallon.

The government has tried to justify the tax rises by claiming that they will encourage more Eco-friendly behavior. However, official projections forecast that carbon dioxide emissions from motoring will drop less than one percent over the next few years.