ABSTRACT
This manuscript is being completed in a period of unusual electoral sensitivity among the political parties in the UK. The Government has a slender majority of one that could be cut by an untimely illness or death, or suicidal tendencies among its warring backbenchers. The nation faces possibly the longest pre-election campaign in recent history. This is not a time for thoughtful public discussion on ecotaxation, or, indeed, on any form of taxation. The leaders are anxiously reigning in any unscripted voice of a Cabinet or Shadow Cabinet minister to ensure that any hint of a taxation debate is killed before the second soundbite is uttered. So we cannot expect any meaningful political discussion on this whole arena of policy for at least 18 months, and probably longer.
