I put these points on the proposed congestion-charging scheme to our glorious' Mayor and the GLA:

1) The charge will put a massive bottleneck inside London and will cause more congestion and pollution around the rest of London. Previously non-congested areas will become rat-runs and therefore traffic will be displaced to the rest of London and M25. Any gains inside the congestion tax zone' will be negated by the nightmare journey to get to the zone. If this were really about congestion, the tax would only be in place during the rush hours. In truth it is just a poll tax on every car-owning Londoner.

2) The Tube is already running 50 per cent over capacity during rush hours, where do the new non-drivers go? The Tube will go into meltdown if we force thousands more people on to it. Most bus routes don't cover everybody's commuter routes. Buses cause huge congestion.

3) Mr. Livingstone promised a car inclusive transport system in his manifesto. This is the most non-inclusive strategy you could imagine, unfair to genuine car drivers including mothers on the school run. How about a school bus system, bigger car parks at outer London tube stations and cycle lanes? Any of these would reduce congestion, not by tax but by democratic choice.

4) We already have a serious tourist slump in London and this will only exacerbate it. I have spoken to a number of businesses in Central London that are against it, saying it will push up prices. Think how much tourism and car drivers bring to the London economy?

5) The cost of running a car in the UK is one of the highest in the western world, reducing living standards for the middle class and increasing poverty among the poor. My road tax, insurance, depreciation, fuel and parking already cost a fortune. It staggers me that someone who has never driven in London somehow believes he knows what is right for us.

6) London already faces tough competition to attract big business in a recession; draconian taxes and regulations won't help. When world business leaders come to London and see the amount extra money, time and hassle it takes just to drive a car to come to a meeting, and probably slapped with a huge fine when they forget to pay, it will destroy London's reputation as a centre for business.

7) The charge is fundamentally undemocratic. I have spoken to every London car driver I know, and all are horrified at this scheme. Only 11 per cent of Londoners voted for Livingstone, yet the majority of the millions of London car drivers are opposed to this tax. This scheme drawn up by non-car drivers without consultation of car drivers for the benefit' of car drivers will fail, and the huge start-up costs will be burdened on Londoners.

I was born and bred in London and I love my city, and I'm not going to let Livingstone destroy it. The answer to London's transport problems lies in improving the Tube and a car-inclusive strategy.

In a recent meeting with the Greens, he said that after hegets away' with this he would introduce other congestion zones' throughout London! This man will turn driving in London like driving through a virtual minefield as cars try to avoid tax areas', those convoluted tax-free' routes becoming the most congested roads in the world.

My dismay has turned to anger. This foolish man must be stopped at all costs.

Extremely Irate Middle Class Londoner

Address withheld

December 13, 2001 14:30