Danny Alexander, Liberal Democrat MP for Inverness, Nairn, Badenoch and Strathspey, yesterday defended his decision to support the party's proposal to raise the road tax for new family cars from £150 to £850 per annum. Tax on the most powerful cars, including some 4x4s, would jump to £2000.

But a leading Highland councillor condemned the plan, which comes up for debate today at the party's Brighton conference.

Councillor Bill Fulton, a member of the Highland Council Fuel Poverty Group, claimed the idea was "fundamentally flawed".

"This 'green tax' as they call it will simply add to the financial burden of people living in rural parts of the country," he said.

Mr Alexander is a member of a Lib-Dems' Tax Commission which carried out a review of the party's tax policy. He insisted the road tax proposals had to be taken in the context of the full package of reforms.

"We would be insisting that there would be a 50 per cent reduction in car taxes for people living in rural areas and we also want reductions in duty to lower the price of fuel in remote areas so motorists would pay the same as they would in city centres," he said.

The MP pointed out the higher road tax would only apply to new vehicles. "Existing vehicles will not be affected," he added. "The aim is to give people an incentive to choose a vehicle which will cause less pollution."

Mr Alexander believed a 50 per cent reduction in the car tax for rural areas would apply to the whole of the Highlands and Islands, but party officials were less certain.

A Lib-Dem spokesman confirmed the detail of what would be defined as "rural" had not been agreed. "What we are looking at is applying the Countryside Agency in England's definition of rural which means the least populated 5 per cent of the country," he said.

Under the Lib-Dems' plans, new cars which emit more than 226gms per kilometre of carbon dioxide would be liable for the £2000 car tax rate.

Family cars with emissions of 166 to 185gms - including most popular models such as Ford Mondeos - would incur an £850 tax.

Buyers of new cars with emissions of 186 to 225gms, including a two-litre five-door Mondeo, would see the duty rise from £210 to £1500.

Councillor Fulton believed national politicians failed to realise the burden on outlying areas was compounded because it added to the transport costs "for every bag of coal and ever loaf of bread".

"The idea of increasing road or the 'green tax' as they call it, is going to hit the people who can least afford it hardest," he said.

"Try telling a young lad who lives in Kyle and he gets a job in a bank in Ardvasar that it's a good idea. He's going to need a car to get to work and simply won't be able to afford it.

"They have not thought this through. We are at the bottom end of the pay scale and the top end of costs. Higher road taxes will just add to the problem."

His views were echoed by Douglas Robertson, chief executive of the Scottish Motor Trade Association. "It's going make an awful difference to people living in the most sparsely populated areas of the country and the Lib-Dems are just shooting themselves in the foot," he said.

"I've looked at two, the Suzuki Grand Vitara 4x4 diesel which retails at £17,000 and tax on that will go up from £190 to £1500. The small Suzuki Jimny, which sells around £10,000, faces a road tax hike of £150 to £850.

"They're offering 50 per cent off in the least densely populated areas. All I can say is 'bully for you'.

These figures are just nonsense."

Inverness East, Nairn and Lochaber SNP MSP Fergus Ewing commented: "Their so called policy for 50 per cent reduction for rural areas begs the question of whether folk in Inverness, Fort William or Nairn are rural and where exactly would the dividing line be. I suspect we will never receive any answer from the Lib-Dems on this because their policies are vague, contradictory and vary from one part of Britain to another."

d.wilson@inverness-courier.co.uk

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