NOTES FROM BIG BEN … BY PETER GUEST


ThisHasNothing T


HERE IS ONLY one story here ... and it has noth- ing to do with parking.


Apologies for going off the subject,


but this needs telling. Members of the British Parliament (MPs) get a relatively modest salary in world terms and an allowance so that they can have two places to live: one near Parliament and one in their constituency. This is/was seen as increasing democ-


racy, since it meant that worthy people were not discouraged from becomingMPs because of the cost. There are rules: Basically, you can


claim a reasonable amount for the extra cost of the second home, and for years “we the people” have been trying to find out


who gotwhat and forwhat under the Free- domof InformationAct. The “honourable members” have


tried to block this, including the Speaker of the House, who as a result became the first person in that ancient and hon- ourable position to get fired in 300 years, but the courts have told theMPs to pub- lish the information. It seems that even then the parliamen-


tarians were trying to prepare a cleaned- up version of the information when the UK’s own “Deep Throat” gave the unex- purgated records to the press. We haveMPs who claimed for mort-


gages they didn’t have. One guy claimed for a place, and then let it to anotherMP, who then claimed the rent.We have peo- ple who claimed to have their moats cleaned out, and people who claimed for repairs on a house miles from either their constituency or London. It goes on and on.


Those caught with their hands in the cookie jar are either


paying back the money or saying, for example, that there is nothingwrongwith telling the tax people that one home is your


“We the people” just want to see the bastards in jail.


main home to avoid paying tax when you sell it and then a few days later telling the parliamentary officials that your other home is yourmain residence to get a bigger allowance. Another “spiffing” plan was for two marriedMPs to each


claim a different house as their main home to get double allowance.The press said that up to half of the currentMPswill not stand in the next election, possibly to avoid the embarrass- ment of being beaten by single-issue anti-corruption candidates. “We the people” just want to see the bastards in jail.


I thought I had heard it all ... but this is a new one on me. Booting on private land is a very contentious issue here,


because, frankly, some of the people involved are crooks. Driv- ers park, and within a fewminutes are booted and then charged hundreds of dollars to get their cars back. Someone in North London seems to have gone one better.


Local traders get a call asking themto come to “Flat 131,” Frog- nal Court on Finchley Road, Hampstead, to do some work. The caller says that it is all right to park in the apartment block’s pri- vate car park. The scam is that there is no Flat 131, and when the driver


46 JULY 2009 • PARKING TODAY • www.parkingtoday.com


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