[Steve in Pudsey]

The previous road fund license was exclusively used for building and maintaining roads. Since the 30s, when VED was introduced they have been paid from from general taxation, of which the VED is just part of it.

My point is that the cost of road building and maintainance exceeds the revenue from VED, so everyone contributes to it. And as you allude to, that feels perfectly reasonable now, but may not have in the 30s when car ownership was lower.

I'm not suggesting it's a perfect analogy but I think it is a valid example of something going from just users paying for it to general taxation.