It is hard to imagine how Populus could have made their poll, given prominent coverage by the Times, on the budget tax changes less reliable. They make just about every mistake in the book. I set out the many problems with their poll on the TPA blog.
One of the biggest problems is that people polled on Wednesday only had the speech itself to go on. These figures that we calculated, funnily enough, weren't in the Budget speech:
"For example, the tax on a Vauxhall Astra 2.0i 16v or Saab 9-3 MY2008 will more than double from £210 to £430. The owner of a Ford Focus 1.6 Duratec will pay 59 per cent more (£170 to £270), and tax on a Citroen Xsara Picasso will rise by 48 per cent to £310.
In contrast, over the past five years the duty on these vehicles rose only 30 per cent. Even drivers of Nissan Micras face a 24 per cent rise - from £145 to £180 - compared to 16 per cent over the past five years. But the tax on a Rolls-Royce Phantom, a Hummer H3 or Porsche Cayenne GTS will rise by only 13.75 per cent, from £400 to £455."
