Check for Obama!

You owe us money!

With the upcoming state visit of Obama to Britain, another story has raised its head. That of the non-payment of the London congestion charge by several embassies in London. And the fact that at the state dinner, which will also see Londons mayor, Boris "Whats a comb?" Johnson will quietly slip a bill for £5,290,000 on Obama's plate somewhere between dessert and coffee. This is the amount that the US embassy owes for its cars entering the congestion charge zone in the centre of London, and refusing to pay. So this also includes the fines.

Boris on a congestion charge free mode of transport. And getting a workout!

Just to give you a bit of background, London suffered from horrendous traffic. The average speed was about walking speed, it was pretty bad. I know. I tried driving in London it was not an experience I want to repeat! However, after the introduction of the congestion charge in the centre of London (and later being spread west) has seen a sustained fall in traffic of 10-20% as well as an increase in journey times of 0.7 minutes per kilometre. May not sound a lot, but on London's tiny streets, thats massive!

The charge itself consists of a bunch of number plate recognition cameras in a ring round London.

A very slightly scary "parking meter."

These track you as you arrive, and issue a charge. 

You can pay by phone, by text, by going to some shops, the day before, the day of your trip, and day after. The charge is £10 per car. £9 if you set up an automatic account on a credit or debit card which the system will charge automatically on each day you are spotted in the congestion zone.

The Congestion zone in the centre of London.

There are exemptions to the charge. For example, the regular London buses, taxis, minibuses, motorcycles, emergency vehicles, and now, low carbon vehicles. So, hybrids, fuel cell, battery, and high efficiency cars are all exempt. So, if you drive a Nissan Leaf, congestion free driving!

No excuse for the Japanese, with all their car manufacturers churning out hybrids, as well as Nissan bringing out the new all electric Leaf.

Also, I know the US embassy wants to stick with American cars, well, Tesla's sportscars are also  exempt! The congestion beating charge also covers the likes of VW's Bluemotion range Polo and Golf, Seats Ecomotive, Fiats 500 TwinAir, and Volvos S40 DRIVEe. Essentially  as long as the CO2 output is under a certain level, you are exempt.

A charge-beating "boring" eco car! The US made Tesla. 

Should the US Embassy choose, they can take Tesla's 'S' which does look sharp...

Also, the congestion charge can be suspended in all sorts of circumstances, should a a group apply for it, or the emergency services instruct London to do so on the back of an emergency, such as the London bombings. Or extreme conditions. For example, in 2009 it was suspended due to the very bad snow that battered London.

Now, many embassies do pay, some do not.

Here is the "Roll of Shame!" of top non-paying embassies.

1) USA £5.29m

2) Russia £ 4.41m

3) Japan £3.65m

4) Germany £3.49m

5) Nigeria £2.7m

6) India £1.88m

7) Sudan £1.6m

8) Ghana £1.54m

9) Poland £1.49m

10) Spain £1.25m

American Embassy

Now, these embassies all claim they are exempt from the charge since under the Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations (1960) that states no Diplomatic mission will be subject to direct local taxation.

Now, the problem here is the fact that the majority of embassies in London DO pay, so they believe that it is not a direct tax, and the second point is, what is direct tax?

Well, by definition, a tax is a fee levied on you by a government which is unavoidable. you have to pay. There is no choice. We all pay tax on our salaries. You work, you pay tax. There is tax like VAT. You buy something, and some of that is this value added tax to the government. 

Now, is the London congestion charge a tax? On the face of it, it looks like it. You want to drive in the centre of London, you have to pay. But if it is a tax, then it is built with so many get out clauses that it almost appears to be a tax that is cuddly! I kind of see the congestion charge as something like a car parking fee. Just covering a very large car park (the centre of London). Embassies would not think twice about dropping a few coins in a meter to pay for 30 minutes of on-street parking, or parking on someones private property.

And given that with the congestion charge there are ways of avoiding it, such as riding a bicycle, using public transport, or renewing your fleet with low-emission vehicles, I am not so sure I would class it as a "direct tax."

If it truly was a direct tax, then surely all embassies would refuse to pay? As it is, most do. Therefore, the US, Russia, Japan and the rest who dont pay are in a minority. And in a democracy, that makes them wrong. 

Japanese Embassy

So, going Boris, slip Obama the bill, he can afford it! And more seriously, it would be interesting to see if this could be a test case in a court of law. I would laugh SO hard if the floppy haired Boris took on the embassies, and won!

Radiation Update - Japan 5/21

Devolution in the UK

So, with the SNP gaining a working majority in the Scottish parliament, it means that Scotland will get to go to the polls in a referendum on Scottish independence. Though that is likely to happen in about 3 to 4 years time, towards the end of this current Scottish parliaments term of office. Giving the SNP time to try to swing the polling figures their way, given that at the moment, the majority of Scots are not in favour of independence (they like the extra subsidies.)

But what does all this mean for the UK? Well, we are going to end up with a bizarre mishmash of political establishments. Northern Ireland has its Assembly, and it looks like they could well be given the ability to make changes to the rate of corporation tax.

In Wales, the Welsh Assembly is in the process of gaining more power, and with the rise of the SNP, it looks like Scotland is going to be pushing for "devolution max."

And England? Nothing. 

The argument goes that if England sneezes, the other home nations catch a cold. Whatever happens in England has an impact on the rest of the UK, therefore, the rest of the UK should have a say. Problem here is that it treats people in England almost as second-class citizens. Of course, the British parliament make the argument that if England has its own setup, what do they do?

Well, my argument is simple.

Full and proper devolution across the whole of the UK.

We can have devolved Welsh, Scottish, Northern Irish an English parliaments. They can look after regional issues, and UK-wide topics can remain with a UK parliament.

Each devolved parliament will have the same responsibilities. In my opinion these would be:

> Delivery of welfare

> Health

> Culture

> Some taxation, such as land tax, property tax and the like.

>Regional transportation

> Education

> Agriculture

> Environment

> Recreation (In part)

> Employment

> Business (tactical level)

And the UK parliament would be responsible for:

> Corporation tax

> Business (Strategic level)

> Defence

> Foreign policy

> Recreation (oversight. some sports are home nation based, others are not)

> Core infrastructure such as power, water, gas, and trans-national transportation. Such as the motorways, and intercity railway corridors/future high speed rail network.

In essence, I want to see the UK parliament slimmed down and representative of the UK properly, so we stop seeing Scots votes being of "more value" than English votes. After all, in the US, with a population of 300,000,000, the House of Representatives has 435, and the Senate only has 100 members. together, that is less than the UK's House of Commons!

It would mean that the UK constituencies would be dramatically expanded, but a UK MP's responsibilities to their constituents will be vastly altered, with many of their functions being handed to an English parliament. Therefore, they have more time to serve a larger area.

With regards money. The UK government is going to be collecting a lot in tax. A portion of that will be set aside for its own functions, and then the rest of it is then divided PROPORTIONALLY to each devolved parliament. No more of this rubbish where in Scotland they enjoy over £1000 more per annum in council spending. If the devolved parliaments want more money, it has to come from their own taxation.

I feel that the UK parliament should be the ultimate arbiter in all things, even devolved issues. This would then stop disparities becoming too large between the home nations. But it would also have to work alongside the devolved parliaments with regards business. Competition is good, but the UK parliament would have to step in to keep a relatively even playing field. 

For example, with corporation tax, should each home nation have total control, then Scotland could drop it a little, but England, thanks to the squillions flowing through London could drop it a lot and bury Edinburghs hopes of becoming a financial centre. After all, why go to Edinburgh, when in London you have a potentially similar (or lower) tax rate, a lot more financial institutions to meet and do deals with, the infrastructure to support large companies, the London Stock Exchange, and 3 major airports. 1 of which is the biggest international airport in the world, and Stanstead as the smallest, is still many factors larger than Edinburgh. 

Stanstead Airport

Edinburgh Airport

I know the SNP has said that Scotlands finances would be helped by being in control of oil revenues. Problem is, if Scotland where to be independent, the oil will run out a long time before Scotland got itself properly on its feet. The oil is already running down, and searching for more oil is getting more and more expensive. It is the law of diminishing returns at play.

Thats my idea, anyway.

Radiation Update - Japan 5/20

Radiation Update - Japan 5/19

Radiation Update - Japan 5/18

OK, back from a minor op! Gradually getting my strength back, and here we are with an updated radiation doodad!

Radiation Update - Japan 5/14

This is going to be my last post for a few days, as I have to go to hospital tomorrow for a minor bout of treatment. Ultrasounding a kidney stone. Painful, but a simple op. I like the painkillers they have given me...