Thread by @pmdfoster

NEW: Survey by @BritainThinks for @GreenAllianceUK finds Brits ready to see the 'greening' of the tax system -- but experts @ChiefExecCCC @jbuckland13 @timbolord warn the govt needs move early & carefully on issues like road pricing to avoid backlash/1

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@BritainThinks @GreenAllianceUK @ChiefExecCCC @jbuckland13 @timbolord Road pricing is obvious example -- the shift to electric vehicles will cost the Treasury £30bn a year in lost fuel duties — equivalent to a 6p rise in income tax -- so the money has to come from somewhere, and as @timbolord says, when explained this way, become easier /2

@BritainThinks @GreenAllianceUK @ChiefExecCCC @jbuckland13 @timbolord It's also possible to phase in slowly, as @jbuckland13 advises, to compensate for lost revenues that will also taper away over time -- and it can be advertises as a fairer approach, with higher rates on city/congested driving than rural areas where cars are essential/3

@BritainThinks @GreenAllianceUK @ChiefExecCCC @jbuckland13 @timbolord There is also the question -- as Chris Stark says -- of doing this in the round. So money saved from electric vehicles is indirectly used to fund harder parts of the road to Net Zero..notably buildings, which require high investment for lower returns on operating costs/4.

@BritainThinks @GreenAllianceUK @ChiefExecCCC @jbuckland13 @timbolord Obviously, as Stark says, "tax is rarely popular" -- people are happier to virtue signal about it, than pay it -- but **fairness** and **communication** is going to be vital to retaining public support for the Net Zero path. Focus groups show explaining why is key /5

@BritainThinks @GreenAllianceUK @ChiefExecCCC @jbuckland13 @timbolord For a long time govt has ducked the hard stuff, greening the grid behind the scenes...but that's about to change. @hmtreasury has big Net Zero Review coming as well as other depts drawing up plans. These will be key signposts ahead of #COP26 /6

@BritainThinks @GreenAllianceUK @ChiefExecCCC @jbuckland13 @timbolord @hmtreasury And then the key will be implementation -- can't have too many more fiascos like the Green Homes Grant voucher scheme which seems to have been moronically administered. /7

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@BritainThinks @GreenAllianceUK @ChiefExecCCC @jbuckland13 @timbolord @hmtreasury But on the upside, if the correct mixture of political courage and administrative competence is applied, there is an affordable pathway to Net Zero. And as @GreenAllianceUK poll shows, public receptiveness/awareness at the outset.

Big ifs, of course, but still. ENDS