Chancellor Alistair Darling controversially backdated VED increases to 2001 in his March budget. Shadow Transport Minister Justine Greening has obtained documents from the treasury showing that the overall vehicle emission reduction of the VED changes is expected to be just one tenth of one percent. 1
 
The ABD suggests that even this miniscule saving in emissions from the changes will come almost entirely from the purchasing decisions of new car buyers and that the backdating element is likely to increase overall CO2 output. The backdating is clearly a tax raising scam dressed up in green foliage that will have the opposite effect to that claimed. Even within the government's unjustified framework where plant food gas is seen as evil this cannot make sense. Surely even the few left who believe the man made global warming myth cannot think this is a good idea. 2
 
ABD spokesman Nigel Humphries explains:

"The new rates impact owners of less efficient vehicles built since 2001. Owners of such cars face a choice: Either they sell their car at a drastically reduced price, sometimes scrap value for older, high mileage cars that nobody will want to pay £270 - £440 pa to tax, or they keep them and pay the higher taxes. If they keep the car then there is no impact on emissions. However many drivers may choose to sell. Ultimately and inevitably this will lead to such cars being scrapped far sooner than under the old VED regime, often when they are still perfectly serviceable. Now, clearly as inefficient cars get older they are very unlikely to be used by high mileage drivers who choose more efficient models. They tend to be in the hands of low mileage drivers. Therefore inefficient old vehicles are rarely great emitters. But encouraging their replacement with newer stock means CO2 is produced in production of the new vehicle. Put simply, the replacement of the cars affected that generally do low mileages with new cars will produce more CO2 than it saves."

ABD chairman Brian Gregory said:

"Alastair Darling must now quantify how the backdating of draconian VED increases on family cars to 2001 can possibly reduce emissions. If he cannot justify these increases then the tax that is hammering poorer families and the elderly must be scrapped. The government claim they are now listening. Let's see some evidence"