London congestion charge

Friday, November 14th, 2008

This has been in place for a while. It is said to have reduced traffic and that may be statisically correct. All I know is that the last time I drove in Central London (this year) it was worse than it has ever been - horrendous.

Now the US Embassy has refused to pay this charge and has been bitched at for other embassies (but not all) have coughed up. Ken Livingstone, former Mayor of London, even called the US Ambassador, 'venal' over this issue and that's a bit much when you look at the payoffs Ken arranged for his buddies when they all lost office.

But what I want to know to put this all in perspective is this. Does the Queen pay the charge when she leaves the palace and swans off to Windsor in that Rolls Royce Phantom? Does Gordon Brown pay every time his Jag takes him from Downing Street to the House of Commons? Indeed do any of our politicians or civil servants pay this charge and if they do, do they get the money back in expenses?

The charge was meant to deter unnecessary trips into Central London by car. I just wonder if Ken walked in instead.

Haven't heard anything from Ken on this. It's probably in his 'too difficult' file.