Working families across North Norfolk will find it even harder to cope with the soaring cost of living thanks to Labour’s new plans to hike taxes on family cars, Trevor Ivory has warned.

Fuel prices at the pump are rocketing and households face ever-higher heating bills on top of higher council tax and soon the cost of driving a car will be even more expensive. Low-income households, who have already been hit hard by Gordon Brown’s 10p tax hike, will be the hardest hit, especially in rural areas where public transport is not an option.

The Government is to change the way that Vehicle Excise Duty  is calculated to raise an extra £2.5bn for the Government’s coffers. Family cars face higher duty as well as a ‘showroom tax’ for new cars. The duty rises will be retrospective – so any car bought after 2001 will be hit by the higher tax rates. This will lead in turn to a plummeting re-sale price for second-hand cars, which will make it more difficult for people to replace their car and upgrade to a new or better one.

For example, the tax bill for a typical Ford Mondeo will rise from £210 to £310 a year, with a new £500 showroom tax on top. Yet, even the Government’s own estimates show that carbon dioxide emissions from motoring will hardly be cut at all.

“At a time when families are feeling the pinch of the rising cost of living – because of higher fuel prices, energy bills and council tax – the Government should scrap its plans for a big increase in road tax on family cars. This is yet another slap in the face for hard-working families, on top of the 10p income tax hikes,” Mr Ivory said.

“Conservatives have consistently opposed these measures. The Government must execute a sharp U-turn. Any change in road tax should focus only on the most polluting vehicles and be offset by equivalent reductions in family taxes. All Gordon Brown is interested in is finding new ways to push up his notorious stealth taxes even further.”

“These taxes are particularly hurting those in rural areas like North Norfolk, where many people are already struggling to fill their heating oil tanks and where the Government has failed to invest in a decent public transport system. Many people in rural areas have no choice but to use a car and they are being punished by the Government for where they live.”