I'm wondering when Mr Brown will start taxing car's built prior to1973 again,how can a car that dosn't have a cat converter,does 15-25 mpg throws out alsort's of rubbish out of it's exhaust not be eligible for VED ! better not tell him maybe it's the only tax free thing we have left in this country

Mark, haslingden,

So far so good, should lead to more fuel efficient cars. But the extra cash should be used to help people who want to buy a more fuel efficient car (E.g. no Vat on <120g).
But hey, looks like somebody has to pay for the new aircraft carriers...

Ivan, Newcastle,

Yet another fundraiser to cover bad bets made on public sector spending/borrowing whilst punishing "bad" behaviour. Higher VED won't change carmakers habits. Why not cut fuel duty 10%, abandon final salary pensions in the govt sector, and actually show reason & restraint on PSBR?

Jonathan Wogel, Dubai, UAE

Just one more nail in the already excessively sealed coffin for Mr Brown and the Labour Government, bring on the general election.

David O'Boyle, Reading, England

Only a Labour government has the stupidity to tax people more and tell them they are better off for it. Stop taking people for fools Brown!

Tom, St. Albans, England

This is the act of a goverment that has lost it's way - it's just tax after tax for the people. Ministers get all there car tax paid through expenses by us - I have my first baby on the way I need a family car to go on Holiday and to go shopping as all the large supermakets are outside town.

Martha, colchester, England

I don't understand why emissions dictate how much you pay in road tax?
They already make us pay duty and then tax on the duty then VAT on every litre of fuel.
Labour Government have screwed this country into the ground, AGAIN!!!

C. Speirs, Northampton, Uk

More labour deception & targeting easy money to generate revenue for failed policies. my pocket was "picked" with the 10% uturn now it has been picked again because i have a car that is 6 years old - not just the road tax but also having its value slashed. disgraceful and unforgiveable behaviour.

John P, Edinburgh, Scotland

Its to help pay for two wars and who knows create more dificulties for the less well off, who will see the armed forces as a way out.
More money more soldiers genius.

diago, Santiago, Chile

Most emergency vehicles fall into the upper tax brackets. Paying for this tax increase will mean less money on front line services.

Mr D Hammond, Luton, UK

The irony is that a vehicle causes more pollution during its creation and destruction, so what does Brown do ? encourage you to ditch that older car for a shiny new one (which inevitably means more old vehicles being scrapped) .Meanwhile his jet does 20,000 miles to take him to Japan!!
Imbecile.

Mark, Southamtpon,

To those who think that only "flashy" cars will be hit by this tax increase: According to the VED calculator, my 1.8l Ford Focus Estate will attract a higher payment. No one in their right mind could call that a flash car ! This is going to hurt a lot of low/middle income people.

Daniel, London,

Doesn't this ragbag government get it?

The less money people have in their pockets, the less they care about 'green' taxes!

C. George, Birmingham, England

Mr Brown did NOT lie, he was very careful with his use of language. 30% better off and 55% no worse off sounds like 85% better or no worse off. Of course he included the 30% in the 55%.

Always watch what a politician says. They won't 'lie' but can make you think one thing whilst saying another.

John, Hull, GBR

Malcolm McLean:
The issue here is not about pollution - it is about the principle of retrospective taxation.
Imagine you bought a house 8 years ago and were now told to pay double the stamp duty because it doesn't meet today's CO2 emmissions targets!
LABOUR MUST GO!!

Gareth, Crowthorne, UK

I've had enough of this big commie state. The government are supposed to be subservient to us; does anybody get the impression that they've got it the wrong way around? If we want to help the environment then we will. Stop bullying the people who elected you to power!

Tom, Liverpool, UK

Gordon should realize many of us don't have the money to purchase a new car.
If he had done this on cars registered after 08 it would be fairer
but as many of have no alternative but to use a car for commuting.
when public transport is availble to get to work at 6am, 2pm and 10pm I will use it.

NRO, Coventry,

21 million motorists; say average car tax £150; average annual tax on fuel £850 based on 10,000 mile, 40mpg £6 per gallon.
That is 21 million times £1,000 out of previously taxed income.
Where does all this money go?
Mr Brown, Mr Darling, Anyone? Any answers?

Alan Hargreaves, Holywell, UK

This will do for Labour what the Poll Tax did for the Tories. It is high time that Brown and his party of Taxaholics were forced into a General Election. It is the only way he will understand the feelings of hard pressed working families.

Pay for this VED hike out of a 3% pay award? Get real!

Mike, Congleton, Cheshire

if darling(peter pan) cannot devise a way of forcing car manufacturers to alter their co2 engines for new cars now. the labour gov are totally incompetent.. they are approaching this matter with a quick fix attitude.if he wants me to go onto a cycle he should come and live in bradford 4 west yorks.

philip jackson, bradford, west yorkshire

Did you people really believe that the U.K is run with any regard for poor/powerless people?

Neil, Birmingham, U.K

Everyone's missing the point on the maths - 33% is a greater proportion of the electorate than voted for NuLabour at the last election so it must represent a majority! The rest of us don't matter.

Either that or it's just another cynical tax hike, which we all know GB & AD wouldn't dream of . .

Bill, Ramsey,

This Government is making it up as it goes along!!!!!!!

I reckon.

ronnie, bucks, UK

another stealth tax by an unprincipled government. it is a shabby lie to claim this is done in the name of the environment. it is all about raising revenue only to have it squandered inefficiently on big government, Tax and spend. Socialists don't change

jmm, stroud,

how many MP's actually care about saving the enviroment? i bet none. i've got more important things to worry about, like basic survival! all they care about is revenue. at least dick turpin had the decency to wear a mask. and i don't know what the tories are on about they'd do exactly the same thing

mike, hull,

Have just a smaller engine car to save on fuel,now it's in the higher tax bracket(zafira)and fuel continues to go up. while i'm travelling 25m round trip my mates enjoy a pint & a bet everyday on the dole. say no more, pays to be on the dole. I'd love a labour MP to knock on my door at the moment.

dffff, mboro,

I'd like to point out that you don't need a SUV to be taxed heavily with this new system. We've a Micra 1.2, with 161g/km of CO2 emission. We can pay for the much higher tax (although not happily). But I sympathise with families and poorer drivers who will have to tighten their budget even further.

Elaine, rural East Anglia,

I just can't believe the Labour party are this thick; someone should tell them this close to a election, it is not the time to threaten this and make even more enemies.Even though on their track record, there will be another U-turn.
It's full U- turn head, by Gordan Brown.

A Walton, Leicester, England

Welcome to Socialist dogma in practice. Take from those who have (or those who need cars for work or live in the countryside) and give it to less productive areas of the economy or those unwilling to work. 'All animals are equal, but some animals are more equal than others'.More perks for MPs now !

Tim, London.,

Jane Kennedy is clearly a 'crackpot'
The sooner we get rid of this govement the better
(perhaps their can claim more expenses thro' taxing us the people more ?)

Graham, Swansea, UK

I have a car built before 2001 I pay less tax than one built after 2001,weird.Since my car is going to be less greener than later models,the later models are being penalised.Why?Because the Government haven't got a clue about car technology.Completely scrap the present system -too complicated.

john, shrewsbury, uk

Seriously, do any of your MPs listen to the voter? If *anyone* in the use Congress tried to pull this kind of tax, then tax, then tax you again slight-of-hand they would be voted out of office so fast their heads would spin... Time to give the Queen back her power to withold consent me'thinks....

Kevin, California, US

As a family of five including three teenagers we cannot fit into a small car, therefore three years ago we decided to buy a 2002 Saab. Yes we could use public transport but we only have 1 bus every two hours, none after 6pm and none on a Sunday.

Catherine, Stroud,

The bigger the car the more the tax pile it on Gordon hit these stupid people in their 4 x 4s where it hurts

Thomas, Manchester,

Darling made no mention of this in his Budget speech and the Press Release was unclear as well. But it did not take long (about 10 minutes) for those awake to work out this was a bad, retrospective tax. It took dim Labour back benchers a lot longer, but they got there.

Poll Tax on wheels!

David Hall, London, UK

Retrospective tax..... to pursuade vehicle manufacturers, to what..... feel that they should have produced more efficient cars 5 years ago.

This doesn't make sense. Increasing a tax on NEW vehicles may make manufacturers consider changes to suit the new taxes regime, not penalties on old ones!?

Dale, Australia,

But wait "vintage" cars don't pay VED so the government are saying "more than 7 years old and it's bad for the environment" but "more than 25 (20?) years old, it's a classic, you're exempt"? Maybe some consistency required?

Paddy, Leicester,

Thank god I'm moving back to Australia in 2010!

Nikki, London,

All these anti Brown comments. I shall now speak up for him and his policies....................No, sorry, cant think of a thing. Please do the right thing and call an election. Put both you and us out of our misery! Is it free to vote, or has Brown put a tax on that too?

Keith, Guildford, UK

Mr Darling, again you talk to the public as if we were fools. Car manufactures have always, and will continue to produce more environmentally friendly vehicles. If you didn't know its called Euro 4 5 6 etc every year emmissions reduce as cars get cleaner. This is just another tax raid..

Neil Worthington, Cheshire, UK

These changes will mean fewer people taxing vehicles, resulting in lower number of vehicles with insurance.

J Butcher, Leeds, Yorkshire

So Jane Kennedy 'completely disagrees that the working poor are always hardest hit by tax changes' and bases this disagreement on - absolutely nothing! These changes are just another example of the paucity of this 'governments' thinking. Even Greenpeace disown the idea!

Neil Davey, Ivybridge,

It says something about the state of public transport when MPs cannot rely upon the service to commute into London and instead are forced to take a £24K per year second home allowance.

Paul B., Cambridge, England

in Swittzerland its illegal for flights to take off and land betweem 12:00am and 6:00am. If Gordon really cared, why does he not implement same rule at Heathrow. Aside from cutting air pollution in half, it will also reduce noise pollution. but he wont make any money from doing that will he.

Chris, Zurich (Ex Pat), ex pat zurich, switzerland

Stephen Southward,

The same thought occured to me months back - surely there MUST be a way to force an election !!

Sadly, I could find no legal mechanism whereby this could be done - anyone know better, please post here !!

Andy, worthing, uk

Retro taxing the motorist for manufacturers design flaws is ridiculous. Impose compulsory buy back to force replacement with newer vehicles. Cars will soon become ultra efficient!

Now the new VED has made 2nd hand cars worthless, the revenue should subsidise trading in for a new vehicle.

ian, Edinburgh, scotland

G.Brown's incompetence is reflected in every thing he has been associated with. From the raid on pension funds to, more recently, the 10% tax rate fiasco. This revelation is just an extension of his lack of foresight. Given the current instability in Anglo/Russian relationships he needs to go now.

A.Williams, Cradley Heath,

Once again deceived by this Government.

scott mitchell, Glasgow, Scotland

Perhaps the maths was based on those able to afford to drive in 2010 not current driver numbers.
The poor in old vehicles priced off the roads well before then means those able to afford newer cleaner cars will pay less in tax. Pricing the poor off to clear roads for the rich - nice one Gordon!

Mark, Chrshire, UK

I bought afamily car 3 years ago so my family could take camping holidays in this country. Now it seems i am yet again being punished for this decission not to fly abroard. How can any sane thinking government introduce a back dated tax and expect people to accept it.

P Tillett, Huddersfield, UK

Don't make it retrospective if you don't want to annoy the public and get yourself voted out. You will still achieve manaufacturers making cars more efficient.

Andy, Guildford,

Why can the man not see how this (again) hits those who can least afford it? It's the 10p tax fiasco all over again in another guise. It's a matter of record that Gord spent his student days seeing how he could best milk the system for all it was worth - now he's where he is, he's doing it to us!!!

Milo, Uckfield, UK

As this is a democracy, allegedly, then perhaps all the disenchanted should do something about it and demand a general election. How do we go about it ? Has it ever been done before ?

Stephen Southward, Winsford, UK

But its to save the planet!!! I believe Brown when he said that by taxing 60 million people to death we will save the entire 6 billion people on the planet. Please Gordon tax us some more .....we love it, and believe every word of your green message...

Adrian, Newry, Northern Ireland

The AA expresses concern for the hard-up, but why would the hard-up buy this type of vehicle in the first place? And as usual, no-one cares about those so hard up they can't afford to buy and run a car at all. They may well do more walking than others and benefit from any move to cut air pollution.

Barry, Wallington, UK

Did ministers really believe that the majority would be better off? No change of this type benefits more than a handful of motorists. The majority will be hit again. Ministers must be more stupid than they look to believe 'no license' Darling and the rest of the wasters in Government

Phil, Rugby, England

I have two oldish cars. A small economical one for work and a big one for the family. Large VED means I can't pay "ownership taxes" for two vehicles. One will have to go - and I can't manage without the big one for obvious reasons. So, I will have to use the big car for commuting too!

Ian, Manchester, UK

The poor, who drive older cars, will suffer the most. It's a tax on the poor (yet again) from Brown. And this is a socialist government? Could have fooled me.

Jim, London,

I would hope the government will be putting this extra cash towards providing renewable energy at no extra cost to the taxpayer. Money from these so called "green" taxes must be spent on environmentally benefical projects or they are just "stealth" taxes after all. Let see some numbers GB!

Rob, Moreton, UK

Given that the sum total of ALL man-made GHG emissions on the whole planet is less than 1% pa of what is already up there, any such measures have nothing to do with reality and are purely political. Conservation of Earth's limited energy resources is however essential. Right action, wrong message.

David Rouse, Copenhagen, Denmark

Why can it not be based on mileage, I have a which I do less than 1500 miles a year, why should I pay the same as somebody who does, 40,000 mile per year.

Richard Hardy, Hull, Humberside

Lying to the People !!! Lying to Parliament !!! Lying to Himself !!!

Get this out of touch traitor out of office !!! He has wreaked more destruction on this country than any invading force has ever done !! BROWN OUT !! BROWN OUT !!

Dave, Lincoln,

Under the new scheme the Government are using a financial penalty to encourage drivers to purchase lower CO2 producing diesel cars. However, with the increase in diesel prices (attributed to the oil companies) is this not having the reverse economic effect. a lower tax rate on diesel is also needed

Declan, Varese, Italy

Strange isn't it, that the government are eager to demonstrate their green credentials when it comes to taxation, but less so when it comes to the expansion of Heathrow Airport.

Julian, Wimlsow,

This Government is incompetant! and if friends of the earth think this is going to improve the enviroment then they are too

tim, London,

"Green taxes" only work when they tax the polluter out of existence. However drivers are very reluctant to surrender their cars. The political outrage shows that the tax is approaching the effective level.

Malcolm McLean, Bradford, UK

Gordon Brown is digging his own grave. We need to get rid of these endless stealth taxes, a Labour party which continually uses spin, more so than Tony Blair, and this out of touch Prime Minister. Obviously, the only broadsheet not running this story today is the Guardian, Labour spin in progress!

Jonny, Putney, London, UK

This government is out of touch with reality. They should all be sacked and put behind bars. Environmentalists are fooling no one with so called green taxes which are nothing more than a means to fund thier socialist agendas. Eventually, Global Warming will be seem for what it is, a SCAM!

F Barnes, Southampton, UK

Yet again the Govt uses smoke and mirrors to hit the pocket of the man in the street.

Gordon, just go, and take your 4 litre Jag with you!

Brian Harris, Redhill,

Just another excuse to tax people. I'm on a low income and cannot afford to change my ageing car but will must likely get stung for yet more tax on top of everything else. If this is a green tax when are we going to see anything "green" done with it ?

Phil, Sturminster Newton, Dorset

Let's dispense with the "Enviro-Speak" of Green Taxes. A Tax is a Tax is a TAX! There are no such things as "green" taxes. The money raised goes into the Treasury coffers, and is simply used as revenue.

Adrian Ryan, Donegal, Ireland

All this tax will do is decrease the value of bigger engined second hand cars. I'm going to get a V8.
As with the changes to Inheritance tax and others, it is totally underhand to punish people for a choice they made up to seven years ago, before the government even admitted climate change existed

Rob, London,

Might not be such a bad idea as I wa sone of the many who were caused in the M1 disruption yesterday. 6 hours from Birmingham to Leeds. Perhaps the police should have set-up diversions or informed radio stations of the exact situation. With all the extra cash this will be easier in future.

D Stewart, Leeds,

My Ford Ka will either not change or be taxed at a lower rate. The whingers shouldn't have tried to show off with their flash cars.

Luke, London, UK

Come the general election this additional tax should remind voters what Brown really stands for: TAX, TAX and MORE TAX. Hopefully it will help to put him and ZaNuLab well and truly out of office!

M. Cawdery, CRAIGAVON, Co. UK, EU.