Strategy is lame with one of its main legs gone

The simplest objection to this tax is that it is yet another new tax. It will require civil servants to administer it and once introduced, can easily see the rates adjusted (upwards, of course) to raise yet more money. Look what has happened to fuel duty since its introduction.

If no new civil servants are required then there are some obvious candidates for redundancy.

This tax is social engineering for which the department has no mandate. If new taxes are to be introduced, they should be put to electors at the next election.

Turning to one of the main planks of the proposed policy, free bus travel, this is, of course, not a new idea and has been tried and failed elsewhere. In the mid-1980s, the then socialist republic of South Yorkshire operated a policy of a standard bus fare of 10p regardless of the distance travelled, so one could cross the entire county, more than 60 miles, for that price. Apart from the fact that, as in Guernsey, the bus routes did not actually serve the potential customers' needs, the policy was a failure as people placed no value on a service which placed a low value on itself. A free service carries even less value. The other problem was that the operators had no profit motive to work to and costs spiralled out of control, all to the account of local taxpayers.

Aside from the fiscal considerations, has anyone actually demonstrated more bus usage is environmentally beneficial? The Mayor of London has recently said that pollutants from diesel vehicles are substantially worse for people than modern petrol engines. The fuel consumption of a bus is also very significantly worse than the biggest gas-guzzler unless the bus is much more full than the present rates of occupancy.

The latest thoughts from Environment are merely an attempt to sneak in a failed policy by pretending it is not going to cost much while at the same time knocking a complete leg from what it has said is a unified strategy. Back to the drawing board, please – and at the same time, back to the electors who have to pay for all this folly.

RICHARD BATTERSBY,

St Jacques House,

St Jacques,

St Peter Port,

GY1 1SP.