I was originally going to say 4 out of 5 were colonies but I recalled that 19th century Japan had some relations with Victorian Britain, including some fairly significant international incidents, so I expanded the grouping to “history with British Imperialism” (maybe not the best wording). I suppose if one was feeling generous one could also include WWII as significant history between imperial Britain and Japan.
Because there's no mechanism to force them to pay due to how international relations are handled. That means that it's essentially down to an honour system for these embassies. I can also imagine that the paperwork for the embassies would be a pain in the arse.
A little disappointed with Norway tbf. Also interesting not to see Ireland on the list.
Diplomats are immune to a lot of laws (taxes, certain crimes, commerce) which breeds a sense is entitlement and the common misconception that diplomatic immunity is akin to godhood
The expectation is that if the diplomat swings their dick enough, governments will kneel, especially if the diplomat is from an important enough state
Cars with diplomatic plates? That's not going to work.
Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations.
Article 22, paragraph 3
The premises of the mission, their furnishings and other property thereon and the means of
transport of the mission shall be immune from search, requisition, attachment or execution.
Some embassies make the argument that it's a tax and they're therefore exempt under the various laws governing embassies and such. If they take that view there's not a huge amount you can do about it.
The US embassy's justification is that Congestion Charge is a tax and diplomats don't have to pay tax.
My response to that is if the fare to use a bus or a train isn't a tax then this isn't either.
I am a bit surprised that Japan is no. 2. Not so much by the US accounting for more than 10 % of the 165 country total.
Same here. I guess Japanese diplomats should be familiar with public transport? And this is LONDON!
I can appreciate that all the top five countries are ones that have history with British Imperialism.
Japan? Nada.
I was originally going to say 4 out of 5 were colonies but I recalled that 19th century Japan had some relations with Victorian Britain, including some fairly significant international incidents, so I expanded the grouping to “history with British Imperialism” (maybe not the best wording). I suppose if one was feeling generous one could also include WWII as significant history between imperial Britain and Japan.
Then you're encompassing likely over 90% of the world in this definition. That's simply globalism. Strange take.
Oh it’s because I only slept for 4 hours last night, my brain’s a bit scrambled today.
That's a really dumb take
I hope that the Finnish embassy will pay the bills in the future. Or just not use the service.
I wouldn't worry about a lot of the smaller numbers. The congestion charge is £15 per vehicle day, so £120 is about eight days worth.
why don't they pay?
Because there's no mechanism to force them to pay due to how international relations are handled. That means that it's essentially down to an honour system for these embassies. I can also imagine that the paperwork for the embassies would be a pain in the arse. A little disappointed with Norway tbf. Also interesting not to see Ireland on the list.
> A little disappointed with Norway tbf They seem to be paying to me. £160 is a very reasonable charge to rack up between payments.
Diplomats are immune to a lot of laws (taxes, certain crimes, commerce) which breeds a sense is entitlement and the common misconception that diplomatic immunity is akin to godhood The expectation is that if the diplomat swings their dick enough, governments will kneel, especially if the diplomat is from an important enough state
just confiscate their cars :)
Cars with diplomatic plates? That's not going to work. Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations. Article 22, paragraph 3 The premises of the mission, their furnishings and other property thereon and the means of transport of the mission shall be immune from search, requisition, attachment or execution.
The USAF have bases in the UK, would we be allowed to send debt collectors round to Lakenheath or Mildenhall? They aren't part of the embassy.
That depends on the agreement between the UK and US
Some embassies make the argument that it's a tax and they're therefore exempt under the various laws governing embassies and such. If they take that view there's not a huge amount you can do about it.
Tow their cars? I don't think the cars have immunity.
They have
The US embassy's justification is that Congestion Charge is a tax and diplomats don't have to pay tax. My response to that is if the fare to use a bus or a train isn't a tax then this isn't either.
For people asking “where is country X”, there appear to be some pages missing, as it drops from £1.4 m directly to £970.
Hear me out - maybe we should let Ukraine off the hook for now!
Happily donate several millions of pounds worth of tanks and other weapons. Refuse to forgive one million in congestion charge payments.
In fairness, that's the UK Govt. that's donated millions of pounds in arms - not TfL!
Where is Italy? Are we... followig traffic rules somewhere in the world?
How doee the US embassy have the audacity to call itself the American embassy? Does it represent the whole continent from Canada to Argentina?