UPDATE: I see that Dave's already poo-pooed this idea in a Q&A session with Telegraph readers . Is there going to be anything left of this report that will actually make it to party policy by the time it's released on Thursday?

In more of the drip, drip, drip of revelations from the Gummer-Goldsmith "Quality of Life" report the Telegraph today reports that the Tories are to end out-of-town free parking:

Tories to end out-of-town free parking
By Graeme Wilson, Political Correspondent

Shoppers using out-of-town supermarkets would be forced to pay car parking charges under new Conservative proposals to defend the traditional British high street.

Under the plans, councils would be given the power to demand that big supermarkets and other stores on the outskirts of towns charge their customers for parking.

Seeing blue over Tory plans
on out-of-town retail?
Originally uploaded by Alastair Montgomery

The proposals - which are contained in the party's quality of life policy review that will be published on Thursday - are likely to face a backlash from shoppers, who have grown accustomed to free parking at the out-of-town supermarkets and shopping complexes. The 800-page report tries to deflect the inevitable criticism by stressing that the parking charges would be no greater than the amount people would pay in the nearest town centre.

All well and good. Liberal Democrats should note that our own tax proposals already do this in effect. By substituting Site Value Rating (LVT by another name) for the National Non-Domestic Rate (Business Rates by another name) the land occupied by these car parks would become subject to a tax on their land value along with the stores.

This would end the huge benefit out of town stores have over their town centre competitors without the micro-management of the Tory plans to implement a similar thing by imposing parking charges. It would be difficult for them to pass on SVR to customers of their in-town stores because they are competing with in-town neighbours who would not have this added burden and would not have an increase in costs - indeed heir taxes may in fact fall by a little once out-of-town store car parks were also paying tax.

Of course everyone's allowed to change their mind, Keynes style, when the facts change, but looking back to 1997, I seem to remember that it was a Labour manifesto policy to stop the growth of out-of-0town retail (another one they signally failed to achieve of course) which had grown like topsy under the Tory government with their powerful retail backers such as Peter MacLaurin at Tesco, James Gulliver's Argyll Group, Archie Norman's ASDA and so on. Even some of Zac's own fortune is connected with out-of-town retail, when his old man sold Argyll Brands to James Gulliver whose Safeway went on to be an early adopter of the model.