Think of a number and tax it

Anyone with any doubts that this Government's only interest in green is the colour of the money it can whistle up in the name of saving the planet might want to peruse the report of the Commons environmental audit committee on the desperate scrabble for extra revenue by raising road tax.

It seems that amid all the calculations about all the extra spondulicks that would come flooding in there wasn't any time left to do the more basic calculations about what environmental impact, if any, the higher rates would have. Nor was any work done on the effect, if any, on carbon emissions or what level of road tax would persuade people to change cars sooner or choose a lesser taxed model.

A cynic might suspect that none of the environment studies were even looked at because the Government couldn't give a monkey's about the planet, it just needed what it hoped would be a creditable reason to screwing yet more tax.

Meanwhile, to show have much the Government cares about the environment, with holidays in full swing if you are having a paddle on British beaches and find any less savoury objects bobbing about, the various water boards were given temporary consent for 3,500 combined sewer overflows ahead of water company privatisation in 1989.

These are the overflows which discharge storm water and raw sewage into rivers and on to beaches when it rains heavily. An obligation to sort them out would have made the giveaway privatisation a bit less attractive.

Here we are 19 years on and the temporary consent is still in place with no one likely to upset the water companies by ordering them to do something about it, or mend their leaks for that matter.