Expect an email off Tony Blair....

Tony Blair is to email the one-and-a-half million people who have signed an online petition against plans to bring in road pricing.

He will tell them it is needed to help tackle the growing problem of traffic congestion.

Writing in The Observer, the Prime Minister admitted he did not expect to win critics over immediately.

But he said the petition, on the Downing Street website, had provoked a useful debate.

Mr Blair said: "I believe road pricing is surely part of the answer here as it is in many other countries."


The PM noted that, after being criticised in the past as a "control freak", he was now "under attack for allowing dissenting views on my own website".

The strength of feeling against Department of Transport plans for a national scheme reached such levels at one point that it brought the site down.

The petition calls the policy "sinister and wrong" and warns the charge would be unfair to those who live away from their families, and poorer people.

Transport Secretary Douglas Alexander has accused its organisers of spreading myths and pledged to go ahead with plans to pilot the scheme.

What a fool! so am right in thinking thats at least 1.odd million who are not voting Labour next time then?

if it does come in, i'm driving the biggest scariest thing I can! big block guzzlebox? yep twenty-elventy foot long? 1.5 parking bays wide? yep ugly as sin? yep. spare cash cruisng through the city - slowly? you betcha!

It pisses me off when its says it will reduce congestion! No it bloody wont! they just get more money! A nationwide school bus system like in the states would reduce congestion in a fookin stroke FFS. GAH GAH GAH GAH.

It goes back again to whats been said, the people will not stand for it. One way or another this will get quashed. Trials, help yourself. You try firtting one of those to an austin 7 or even ford anglia. Doubt it don't you. will they be making negative earth and 6 volt boxes? No i thought not.

Blair is a tosser. I will not vote for his party, never have, never will.

Ah but look at the facts - congestion is better in the Congestion Charge zone of London so it must work!

That only works because I guess people avoid going anywhere near the centre of London. If you do that everywhere, will people just stop at home? Will everything grind to a halt because no-one can afford to drive and public transport has just gone into meltdown?!

id ride a motorcycle actually, i already do and cant see them being tarred with a congestion brush can you?

Umm, while I don't usually enter these debates, TFL themselves are aware that congestion inside the eixisting zone is pretty much back to where it was before and when the extension no one wanted goes live tomorrow morning they are expecting congestion within the zone to increase. This would be because a large residential population will now get a 90% discount (if they drive smallish cars).

Well, sod cars and going to work, I'm going to sign on the dole and devote the rest of my life to watching VHS tapes of Challenge Anneka instead.

thats what i was thinking

which country's have road pricing

even the Nazi's turned down road pricing to pay for the autobahns - that would be a good slogan for Tory B.Liar

"Freedom through Tax"

Tony tosser makes my trigger finger itchy