Articles and Speeches

Tax - Talking Rubbish
12-Jan-07, Windsor Express Article.

This week it has been suggested, by those with vested interests I suspect, that we should be charged for the weight of rubbish we throw in the bin.

The argument is that the amount of rubbish we throw away each year is rapidly filling available landfill sites which it is estimated will be full within 10 years. In addition, it seems, we may be producing the largest amount of rubbish per household in Europe.

I am reassured by the number of people who do their bit by recycling what they can and by making use of local recycling bins at supermarkets, like Tesco at Dedworth, and elsewhere across the constituency.

Yet somehow I suspect that charging for the weight of their rubbish collected is a cunning ruse to charge “more” for it to be collected. Let’s not forget that we already pay for refuse collection through our council tax and it is not surprising that many people will sense another stealth tax on the way.

We must, of course, continue to do what we can to reduce the amount of packaging and rubbish produced. However, unless, we have a firm guarantee from this Government and local councils that the cost of rubbish collection will not increase - but simply be redistributed - then our doubts and fears of further taxation will continue unabated.