Letter: Budget losers

Sir: Gordon Brown's Budget has hit motorists once again.

The average motorist will pay an extra pounds 50 a year in fuel tax, but it will be the less well-off, drivers of diesel cars and rural motorists, who will be hardest hit.

While most motorists will pay an extra pounds 5 for their tax disc, Labour's plans to tax more heavily large-engined cars ignored the environmen-tal friendliness of different cars. Some large, well main-tained engines are much less polluting than older, smaller, un-maintained engines.

The pounds 25m road tax on lorries and the 33p per gallon on diesel will hit all of us as consumers because they will raise prices. It will also hit us all because the revenue will lose income as more lorry operators licence their vehicles in Europe and fill up over the Channel.

Research shows that petrol prices would have to treble overnight to force people out of their cars. If sticks are to be used to get us out of our cars, carrots need to be in place first.

Dr ROBERT R F KINGHORN

London W4