Road Toll Proposals Are Nuts

Saturday, 1. October 2011

Years ago I used to attend meetings hosted by the Finance and Leasing Association at which all sorts of issues were discussed regarding the finance industry with a special interest in fraud. Eventually they stopped inviting me, probably because I have a big mouth and am never frightened to open it. This doesn’t make me a lot of friends when I believe that whoever is speaking is talking bull shit! Yep I can say that cos it’s my blog! Senior managers and directors of finance companies who know the difference between an internal rate of return and balance sheet capitalisation debate what should be done to reduce the level of customer defaults and improve acceptance rates of those applying for credit.

These academics didn’t have a clue as to why a customer defaulted on his repayments but I did and was quick to educate. This didn’t sit well with the other attendees, the truth never goes down well at these events.

So no more cups of Earl Grey and Bourbons for me. The problem is that too many people guess at solutions without having the knowledge and genuine experience of the problems in the first place.

They don’t speak to the people that really matter. So what’s my point? The announcement that the CBI believes that the way to improve the country’s economy is to introduce road tolls. Are they nuts?

They are suggesting that road tolls could kick start the economy. The CBI in partnership with KPMG have surveyed businesses to be told that 58% believe the UK’s infrastructure to be poor when judged on quality, value for money and reliability.

The solution by those rather dopey businessmen and accountants, introduce tolls that will fund road building. The government has already ruled out the introduction of tolls on existing roads but will listen to any schemes that road builders would like to put forward.

The M6 toll road is a dream to drive along, that’s because it is a total failure and people can’t afford to use it so continue to clog up the main M6. Congestion charging just raises revenue, it hasn’t stopped congestion in the middle of London.

The whole concept is a nonsense and will drive small businesses out of business all together if they have to pay to be able to deliver their goods to certain parts of the country. Do you agree? By Graham Hill