On the move

The problem, however, is that no one has told the motorist. The car remains as popular as ever, congestion is getting worse and Britain’s outdated road-transport system is struggling to cope.

Nor is there much on offer by way of an alternative, considering that Britain’s rail system is similarly outdated. Inefficient and overpriced, it struggles to cope with the numbers wanting to use it, partly as a result of its botched privatisation in the 1990s.

Indeed, this failure stands as a warning of the need to get it right if, as the Government suggests, the roads are now to be handed over to the private sector. However, it remains unclear as to how much of yesterday’s announcement is firm policy and how much is mere toe-dipping to gauge the public’s reaction to the prospect of paying tolls for privatised roads.

Certainly, David Cameron would be advised to tread carefully. Britain is a nation of drivers who are strongly attached to the roads that their taxes helped to build and it is likely that there would be strong resentment towards the idea of giving them to private operators, particularly if they then have to pay out yet more cash in the form of tolls.

Yet, if it can be clearly shown that Britain’s creaking transport infrastructure – which is playing a large part in stifling economic growth – would be improved through private-sector involvement, with motorists knowing that their road tax was funding this, it may yet be possible to whip up public support. For what motorists want, perhaps more than anything, is to know that they are directly benefiting from the huge amounts they pay out in tax.