More tax...

It's February the 1st and here in the UK it means that if you're flying somewhere you now have to pay more tax on your airline tickets - between £5 and £10 depending on your destination. The reason for this? We're told the tax has been imposed on environmental grounds. So like the fuel on petrol and diesel, road pricing and the plans to charge us based on whats in our rubbish bins, we're being forced to pay a tax which in the longer term will probably have little impact on the environment.

Whatever you believe about global warming/climate change, one thing that should be made clear is that increasing taxes won't do any good. Yes, increased taxes will change people's habits and those who can't afford to pay extra will make the choice not to pay - they will either just stop buying that which is taxed or find a way around it - as we see with the amount of tobacco and alcohol which is brought into the country from mainland Europe and the number of people on the Irish border who drive over to fill up their cars.

Soon the UK will start to return to the position it was in many years ago... driving and flying will be reduced to a priviledge of the rich, those who can afford to pay the extortionate taxes. Royalty and government won't care... the likes of Prince Charles and Gordon Brown will still be able to fly when and where they want, as will the music and movie stars and the board members of big companies. People such as you and I, the people who work for a living, those of us who need to drive to work because of poor public transport or have kids to ferry to the never-ending number of clubs and events will have to cut back. Many of us will ask for pay raises, some of us will get them. The prices our employers charge to their customers will increase. Inflation is the result.

Who wins? The people certainly don't.

I remember the jokes from when I was younger about the government taxing the air that we breathe... given that even breathing has some environmental impact will that day really be far away now?