Tony Blair’s curious finale
SILVER DONALD CAMERON
PITY TONY BLAIR. These days, even when he tries to do something positive, it turns out badly.
For example, Blair instituted a website where citizens could contact his office directly. This shows the British PM as a populist, groovy and contemporary.
But then, having commissioned the Stern Report, which warned Sternly about global warming, Blair proposed a road tax to ease congestion and cut vehicle emissions by discouraging automobile use. The tax would reflect the number of kilometres people drove. Every vehicle’s movements would be tracked by satellite, and every owner would receive a bill at the end of the month. The tax might be as much as C$2 per kilometre for rush-hour driving.
BOOM! Irate motorists overwhelmed the PM’s website with 1.8 million e-mails. As my British friend Peter Bonsey wrote to me: "The objections to this scheme are so compelling that this dreadful government will almost certainly press ahead."
Cost aside, what were the objections?
Civil liberties and privacy, to start with. Britain already has a vast number of closed-circuit TV cameras spying on its citizens, and the government proposes to institute a national identity card. The idea that the government would also track every single movement of every single car is simply Orwellian.
Second, a tax-based scheme is immoral, because it would completely stop the poor from driving long before it forces the wealthy to cut back. Third, Britons see the new tax as a straightforward revenue grab — and because the government gets the money, the tax motivates the government not to reduce fuel use but to increase it.
There’s a better way to reduce fuel use, Bonsey says, and we’ll get to that. But I had just seen the Stephen Frears film The Queen, featuring Michael Sheen’s bright and sure-handed portrayal of the young Tony Blair. The movie reminded me that Blair has been a truly remarkable public figure.
A peacemaker in Ireland, the creator of the Welsh and Scottish assemblies, promoter of the Human Rights Act and the Freedom of Information Act, Blair has also eliminated the ban on gays in the armed forces and achieved legal recognition of gay partnerships. He has presided over a decade of British life as the first Labour prime minister ever to achieve three successive majority governments.
But now, as he approaches retirement, Blair’s legacy is deeply stained by a cash-for-honours scandal and by his eager support for the Americans in Iraq. Blair has also imposed stringent anti-terrorism laws that, together with his identity card and road tax proposals, place him in the unlovely posture of a Big Brother, prying endlessly into the private lives of British citizens.
The objectives of the road tax, Bonsey says, could be met much more simply and elegantly by using "a smart carbon card. The idea here is that every citizen who is of an age to be allowed a driving licence, and whether or not they hold one, is given a road fuel allowance each year. When you go to the petrol pump, you insert your card, which confirms you have some ration left, and then you buy and pay for the fuel in the usual way."
In effect, this is fuel rationing. If you want to drive a gas-guzzler, you may — but you won’t be able to drive it very far unless you buy carbon credits from someone else who isn’t using them. The scheme sets an absolute limit on fuel use for the country as a whole but allows the market to decide who uses the fuel. Those who conserve — by using public transit, for instance — will profit by selling their credits. Wastrels will pay heavily.
The government isn’t allowed anywhere near the scheme, Bonsey notes, so it will be seen as being honest.
"The government sets what it regards as the limit the environment can take and that amount cannot be exceeded because the permits don’t exist."
Other fuel uses — air travel, home heating and the like — could ultimately be handled the same way. Over time, governments could steadily cut fuel use and emissions just by reducing the total number of carbon credits they issue every year.
So I repeat what I said about pay-as-you-drive insurance. Honourable gentlemen and ladies in all our governments, including the Labour government of the United Kingdom, why don’t you stop postulating vast schemes to deal with climate change and devote a little attention to the pursuit of what’s possible?
Like pay-as-you-drive insurance, a smart carbon card could significantly mitigate the environmental damage we’re doing. Like PAYD, it doesn’t involve ideology and it doesn’t create unbearable hardships or windfall profits for governments or corporations. It rewards responsible behaviour and penalizes anti-social practices. And it can be done with the stroke of a pen.
What are we waiting for?
Will Tony Blair change his mind?
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50% of the electorate too. ) She thinks Cameron is phoney but still prefers him. 
Originally Posted by Hosakawa Tito
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