Gordon Brown's efforts to stimulate the economy have
shifted online.
The UK Prime Minister is to announce a congestion-charge-style
tax on web traffic.
The move, which is likely to meet opposition from the digital
lobby, would impose a levy on traffic going to
the most
popular websites during peak traffic times.
Users will pay a temporary subscription to gain access behind a
government firewall. The amount is not known, but is expected to be
in the region of 25p a time. Economists have said it had the
potential to wipe the national budget deficit in less then six
months.
The Prime Minister's announcement is timed to coincide with his
plans to persuade the G20 group of national leaders to back his
global plans for a co-ordinated fiscal stimulus in London
tomorrow.
Analysts have said Brown's congestion charge tax on websites
will provoke a backlash from publishers who have tried a number of
avenues to make money online.
Many have abandoned the paid-for content model in favour of free
access, only to see the government impose a levy that would
effectively tax their traffic.
A spokesperson for the Guardian, a website likely to be affected
by the tax, said the plan was "bonkers" and just the latest example
of Brown's "big ideas" being completely unworkable.