Classic Road Tax

In my humble opinion- you don't ask, you don't get.

Simples

We may fail at this but to raise awareness now may give us better leverage later on.

Lets face it most of "our" cars don't even qualify at the new later date yet!

As Phil says every other EU country has a system that recognises in some way that classic cars are used very little in general, contribute a lot to the economy for little emissions and are also part of our heritage.

[phildini]

£4.3 BILLION FROM CLASSIC MOVEMENT by NICK LARKIN
The historic vehicle movement contributes an incredible £4.3 BILLION to the British economy every year, a survey reveals.

It supports more 28,000 jobs and 3800 businesses, 41% of which expect to take on more staff over the next five years, potentially 3000 people. Half the expected jobs are due to growth and many involve traditional skills., meaning 46% of traders expect to have problems recruiting. There are more than 850,000 pre-1981 classics in Britain but they contribute just 0.24% of the total mileage by all vehicles.

The amazing figures were revealed during a presentation at the House of Lords, attended by politicians, journalists and well-known figures from the world of classic vehicles. Many people feel theresults of the survey, commissioned by the Federation of British Historic Vehicle Clubs will have a radical effect on the way the classic movement isperceived in many circles.

Some more revelations £960m of the specialist trade turnover comes from outside the UK, 47% from Europe and 18 via the USA and Canada,

The total value of British historic vehicles is £7.4bn approximately, an average value of £8250 per vehicle. The average owner spends £2,900 a year a year on their hobby, NOT including purchased and restoration costs, £2.1bn is spent with the specialist trade, clubs and museums,

A further £910m goes into the general economy through everything from clothing to meals at events.The figures come from the third survey on the social and economic impact of the old vehicle movement commissioned by the Federation of British Historic Vehicle Clubs (FBVHC) . The results were presented on a report entitled The British Historic Vehicle Movement – a £4 Billion Hobby, unveiled during a presentation at the House of Lords last Tuesday (December . Among those attending were Government Ministers, MPs, Sir David Steele and motoring writers/editors including Quentin Willson. Lord Montagu and House of Lords speaker Baroness D’Souza also addressed the meeting.

More than 11,000 people had responded to the survey, project director and FBVHC vice president Geoff Smith revealed. “We have great stability but we haven’t got stagnation,” he said. However, although the majority of businesses were positive about the future, there were reservation “There’s a big risk felt by two thirds of businesses that future regulations could cause damage.” The report states ‘ a strong message came from traders that the current regulatory burden discourages activity and risks hampering both the desire and ability to grow.’ Added Mr Smith “I stress this because there are people in this room who can influence that situation.” *The Federation of British Historic Clubs (FBVHC) represents 500 clubs, which are said to generate a £22m annual turnover between them. The Federation’s aim is ‘to uphold the freedom’ for people to own and run classic vehicles.

Very interesting reading Mr Dini

[Alpineandy]

I can't see any politician agreeing to this at the moment.
Between the 'credit crunch' and the greenwash party, the government would get too much agro.
However when they can see some light at the end of the tunnel then I think they could agree to re-introduce the rolling date (probably for forty year old cars rather than 25 year olds).