As usual, Americans thing they are above the law....
US gets in a jam with London mayor over road toll
By Christopher Adams in London
Published: March 27 2006 21:48 | Last updated: March 27 2006 21:48
London’s mayor on Monday accused the US ambassador to the UK of behaving “like a chiselling little crook” in a spat over the embassy’s refusal to pay the city’s road toll.
Ken Livingstone, the famously outspoken left-wing mayor and long-standing critic of American foreign policy, delivered his latest outburst during a television interview. His assault on Robert Tuttle was prompted by the long-running dispute over the embassy’s refusal to pay the congestion charge, a toll that is levied on those driving through central London during business hours.
American diplomats have refused to pay the £8 a day toll since last July, racking up many tens of thousands of pounds in unpaid charges. The embassy is believed to have about one hundred cars and fines for each day of non-payment can be as much £150 a vehicle. The embassy argues the charge is a tax and that diplomats are exempt.
Mr Livingstone, something of a stranger to diplomatic niceties, said: “It would actually be quite nice if the American ambassador in Britain could pay the charge that everybody else is paying and not actually try and skive out of it like a chiselling little crook.”
Earlier, he had told reporters: “When British troops are putting their lives on the line for American foreign policy, it would be quite nice if they paid the congestion charge.”
news.ft.com . . .
US gets in a jam with London mayor over road toll
By Christopher Adams in London
Published: March 27 2006 21:48 | Last updated: March 27 2006 21:48
London’s mayor on Monday accused the US ambassador to the UK of behaving “like a chiselling little crook” in a spat over the embassy’s refusal to pay the city’s road toll.
Ken Livingstone, the famously outspoken left-wing mayor and long-standing critic of American foreign policy, delivered his latest outburst during a television interview. His assault on Robert Tuttle was prompted by the long-running dispute over the embassy’s refusal to pay the congestion charge, a toll that is levied on those driving through central London during business hours.
American diplomats have refused to pay the £8 a day toll since last July, racking up many tens of thousands of pounds in unpaid charges. The embassy is believed to have about one hundred cars and fines for each day of non-payment can be as much £150 a vehicle. The embassy argues the charge is a tax and that diplomats are exempt.
Mr Livingstone, something of a stranger to diplomatic niceties, said: “It would actually be quite nice if the American ambassador in Britain could pay the charge that everybody else is paying and not actually try and skive out of it like a chiselling little crook.”
Earlier, he had told reporters: “When British troops are putting their lives on the line for American foreign policy, it would be quite nice if they paid the congestion charge.”
news.ft.com . . .
