January 14, 2004

Where Will They Stop?

It seems everyday I'm mentioning another Government tactic to get more revenue. And all of it seems to be at the expense of motorists.

Making a right turn or negotiating a roundabout and get stuck in the yellow box? If a traffic warden sees you and notes your number plate, you could get a £100 fixed penalty notice in the post.

Park 51 cm away from the curb? Even if you need the little bit of extra space to open your door, because you are, say, handicapped? That will be £100 if you are in London or £60 in the rest of the country.

And yesterday it was announced that the Home Office wants to tack a £5 surcharge on all speeding tickets. This is to help compensate the victims of crime. Why put this on speeding tickets? Why shouldn't criminals be compensating the victims of the crimes they perpetrate? Why should the general public subsidise this? And why pick on speeders? They've done something wrong, so they should somehow contribute toward unrelated people who have had wrong done against them?

The real reason? A. There are a lot of speeders being caught - more and more, month by month. B. They are being forced to fork out money anyway. C. What's extra fiver?

I fully expect the Government to announce more fines and stealth taxes throughout the coming days and weeks. They are on a roll.

Posted by david at January 14, 2004 12:02 AM | TrackBack
Comments

Guess we have to start paying for the 2012 Olympics fantasy somehow. Jaywalking has to be worth a tenner... and let me see... how about late library books? We could add £5 to every fine, £10 in London, of course. Personally I think dropping chewing gum on the pavement is worth £50 to compensate people who get it on the soles of their new shoes.

Posted by: Havdala at January 17, 2004 04:08 AM

Is has alrady been announced that London council taxes will have a Olympic surcharge. This is on top of the huge rises expected yet again in council tax across the country.

Posted by: David Holford at January 17, 2004 11:19 PM