Congestion charge and road pricing

Not a great day to be a motorist in this country. The London congestion charge zone was today widened to twice the size of its original area, bringing thousands more motorists within its net.

Also, the proposed national road pricing scheme is still provoking fury across the country. Over a million people have signed an online petition against the plan, and not many are impressed by Tony Blair's plan to email all the petitioners to put the Government's case before them.

Still, one crumb of comfort. If you drive a company car, and your employer pays the congestion charge for you, you are not taxed on that benefit. The reason is that the tax you already pay for the car is taken to include any payments by your employer for the congestion charge.