£1000 SAVING FOR NORTH EAST FAMILIES UNDER GREEN SWITCH PLANS

12.00.00am GMT Mon 30th Oct 2006

Fiona Hall MEP and Chris Davies MEP for the North West launching the Green Tax Switch campaign.

The average North East family could be £1000 a year better off under new Liberal Democrat tax proposals, claim the party's local MEP.

Fiona Hall launched the 'Green Tax Switch' last week.

The new party policy aims to change behaviour by cutting the base rate of taxation by 2p at the same time as taxing behaviour that causes pollution and climate change.

Green taxes under the current government have been steadily falling and this trend must be reversed if Britain is to make an effective contribution to tackling the problem of climate change.

The proposals include raising Vehicle Excise Duty on the most polluting cars to £2000, at the same time as introducing much lower bands to reward clean vehicles. This would shift patterns of car buying and tackle the source of greenhouse gases from transport.

Airport taxes per passenger will be abolished and instead each plane that takes off will be taxed on its emissions. This will reward full flights and punish those that fly only half full.

MEP Fiona Hall, who is the Liberal Democrat energy spokesman in the European Parliament, claims the campaign is a wholesale change in taxation thinking.

She said: "The EU has long established the principle that the polluter should pay for their damage. This green method of taxation would be fairer on the poorest families and make polluters in Britain pay for the environmental harm they are causing."

And the MEP argues that the party's proposals are a first for British politics.

She said: "The 'Green Tax Switch' is the first time we have put serious flesh on our commitment to use the tax system to change behaviour and limit carbon emissions. The proposals are a breakthrough for British politics as there is now a bona fide option of voting to switch the burden of tax from income onto pollution."

Fairness is a fundamental principle of the system and would address the current anomaly that sees the poorest earners paying a higher proportion of their income in tax than the richest. They will benefit the vast majority of pensioners, key public sector workers and young professionals by raising the taxes of those who pollute the environment and taxing the very wealthy.