David Ruffley MP has this week warned that working families across Suffolk will find it even harder to cope with the soaring cost of living following Government plans to increase taxes on family cars.

The Government intends to change the way that Vehicle Excise Duty (VED) is calculated to raise an extra £2,500,000,000. Family cars face higher VED as well as a 'showroom tax' for new cars. The VED will be retrospective- so any car purchased after 2001 will be hit by the higher tax rates.

For example, the tax bill for a typical Ford Mondeo will rise from £210 to £310 a year, with a new £500 showroom tax on top of that.

David said:

'At a time when families across Suffolk are feeling the pinch from the rising cost of living the Government should consider scrapping its plans for a big increase in road tax on family cars.

'Any change in road tax should focus on the most polluting vehicles and be offset by equivalent reductions in family taxes. It is quite right that climate change is at the forefront of the political agenda, however, we need to establish policies that address the problem rather than using it as an excuse to hit families with another tax hike.

'The Government's own estimates show carbon emissions from motoring will be hardly cut at all- Gordon Brown should admit that this is just another cynical attempt to push up taxes masquerading as a 'green' policy.

'As these changes to VED are retrospective it will mean any car purchased after 2001 will be hit with higher taxes. This will have a knock-on impact on residual values and mean the value of hard working families' cars will plummet. Replacing or upgrading a car will become even more difficult when people visit their local showroom and get the all important trade in value for their vehicle.

'This change is yet another slap in the face for Suffolk families and I will be fighting tooth and nail in the House of Commons on their behalf to press the Government to ditch this unnecessary tax hike.'