Vehicle excise duty (VED) should be raised for new diesel cars in an attempt to improve air quality, a think-tank has said.

Policy Exchange claimed VED for diesel vehicles should be increased by up to £800 to reflect the higher level of air pollution they cause, compared with petrol cars.

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Shall we tax those who eat bakedbeans because of incresed air pollution

How mad, only a couple of years ago the government were encouraging diesel cars because of the "better" emissions - even though they had been told on numerous occasions that diesel emissions have their own problems.

Even more mad, the increased NO2 from modern diesels have been brought about because of other regulations, they used to be 30% lower than they are on contemporary engines.

How is a £800 tax going to help? Surely it would be better to regulate the permissible emissions as is done on all other engines - this promotes better technology rather than making obsolescent a fuel that is inherently more efficient than petrol.

I would argue that the biggest diesel polluters in cities would be from buses and lorries.

OK, the Aviva electric hybrid buses are good, but if you've followed some of Happy Al's or Avon's ancient buses, you could hide in the cloud of black smoke they give out!

Does seem nuts to charge more excise tax on EU6 conforming vehicles than on the older diesels already on the road. Doesnt make sense really. Thats Government logic for you though eh!

If you see any smokey commercial vehicle, report it to the council who are supposed to take action.

The bus companies rake us for enough money, cutting costs on maintenance is an insult to the ratepayers who are subsidising them.

A "Think tank" is newspaper editorial. They do this to get a story, it's nonsense.