Well that was a busy day.

Your humble servant was glad to arrive home, walk into my drawing room and sit down in my trusty arm chair.

After a short rest I put on my historic radio and listened to the news.

Of course today was the Autumn statement. Amongst the usual tax cuts and increases I was socked to learn that the car tax disc is to be phased out to be replaced with a newfangled electronic system.

The tax disc has been with us for ninety three years being first introduced in 1921. It will be sad to see it go. Phasing it out is a big mistake.

To get a road tax you need to present valid insurance and a MOT.

By displaying a tax disc we all know that in the last twelve (or six) months the car has passed a MOT test and been insured. Discontinue the road tax disc and we will not be able to tell the dodgy cars from the good ones.

Going to the Post Office to get a tax disc was one of the joys of motoring which sadly will be taken from us.

Of course while at the Post Office we may buy other things or visit nearby shops generating trade for the retailers of the town. This may not happen future resulting in loss of trade for the town centre.

I wonder how this electric system will work?

Will we still have to display anything in the windscreen of our car? Probably not.

Personally I would rather see the road tax phased out and replaced with a levy on petrol. That way everyone would pay by how much petrol they use making it a fairer system. Nobody would be able to avoid paying either.

Every car should then display a MOT disc and insurance disc so we know the cars are roadworthy and insured.

Electrical machines have come to ruin modern life and now they are even going to deprive us of that bastion of English life namely the little disc that we mount in our windscreens.

R.I.P. road tax disc, I will miss you.

What do you think?

*Don't forget to read my regular column in this Friday's edition of the printed version of the Bucks Free Press!