‘We have no plans not to implement our budget’: the double negative employed by Phil Woolas, the Environment Minister, on Tuesday’s Newsnight, and the familiar ‘no plans’ formula, told you all you need to know about this government’s collapse of confidence. On the matter of retrospective Vehicle Excise Duty (VED) increases, ministers are desperate to execute a U-turn as quickly and as painlessly as possible — one which, in any case, they fear they will be forced into sooner or later. Equally, Gordon Brown does not want to be seen to be bowing — yet again — to popular pressure, so soon after the 10p tax debacle. It is hard to reconcile ‘long-term decisions’ with budgets rewritten on the back of an envelope. Truly, this government is collapsing under the weight of its own contradictions.
This week, in scenes reminiscent of the 2000 fuel mutiny, truckers converged on London to protest over the separate issue of fuel duty.
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