London Congestion Charge (US Embassy)

[Undertoad]

It was covered on Fark. Seems the relevant details are that embassy folks are not required to pay tax and that foreign embassies are coming to the conclusion that this is a tax even though mayor says it's a charge.

This is the part of the Times story that I thought was most important, emphasis mine:

Meanwhile, figures published by the Government’s Small Business Service reveal the decline in small businesses in the congestion zone last year. For the first time in ten years, the number of businesses that de-registered for VAT (closed or went bankrupt) exceeded new business start-ups in the City, in Westminster, Holborn and St Pancras, leaving London languishing at the bottom of the national league table.

Those businesses in areas that surround the charging zone showed net gains, but overall, London has plunged into the red. Peter Hulme Cross, business spokesman for the One London group at the London Assembly, challenged the mayor on the damage to small businesses in the zone and called for concessions, including suspension of the charge outside morning and evening rush-hour periods.

"This disturbing evidence of business closures from the Government’s own figures is clear," he said. "Street parties and other gimmicks are not enough to rescue these businesses. Practical measures are needed urgently. The mayor is ignoring these figures for political convenience and Central London businesses are going to the wall at record levels."

Mr Livingstone denied that the charge was a significant factor in driving business out of Central London.

Is London going to remain a great city of the world? Not if it charges people to be there.

[Elspode]

So diplomats are expected to pay $14 per trip to the Embassy/Office if it is located in central London, or ride the bus/take a cab, where there is no security, no bombproofing/armor, and a scheduled, predictable route?

That doesn't sound very safe. I'd say the hell with it, too. It is a tax, pure and simple. It is a fee collected by a government for the purposes of funding government programs or regulating public behavior. How the hell can it be called anything *but* a tax?

[xoxoxoBruce]

I'd love to hear the NYC Mayor's take on this, considering the problems they have with diplomatic tagged cars around the UN and various embassies.