Obama 'may get £5m congestion bill', says Boris Johnson

[redred]

Mayor Boris Johnson plans to confront President Barack Obama over millions owed by the US embassy in congestion charge during his visit to London.
Several embassies refuse to pay the charge for driving in central London, claiming they are exempted from local taxes. The unpaid bill stands at £51m.
"Maybe when President Obama's hors d'oeuvre plate is whisked away he will find a bill for £5.5m," he said.
Previously, the US embassy has said it considers the charge to be a tax.
Mr Obama will visit the capital, from 24 to 26 May.
Following Mr Johnson's interview on BBC London, Transport for London confirmed the US embassy owes £5.2m in unpaid congestion charge.
'Not a tax'
Speaking to Vanessa Feltz the mayor said he may be "shepherded away" from Mr Obama and added: "[But] if I get the chance to I will remind him that the US owes us £5.5m in congestion charge.
"I think if they are going to have the representation here in London then they should pay the charge for driving and using our streets. So 'No representation without a congestion charge' is the slogan."
Many embassies refuse to pay the £10-a-day charge and the £120 fine incurred through not doing so.
But Mr Johnson said: "It is not a tax, it is a charge for services and I think we should test this in the courts.
"The only way we could do this is if the foreign office gets a grip on the situation and actually takes the American government to court and gets this adjudicated in the international court." he said.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-london-13467327

[Softdreamer]

One of the benefits of this charge was its reduction in traffic via making people think about how often they used their car in London. Most of their journeys either didn't need to be made, or could be made via other modes of transport.
The idea that embassy staff could consider themselves exempt without approval is insulting.
Perhaps if they had taken the charges main goal (to reduce traffic and pollution in London) into consideration, the bill would have been alot lower.

[DemonGeminiX]

The next time the queen or the prime minister comes to the US and they drive around our streets, we'll be more than happy to send you guys a bill for the costs incurred that I'm sure we normally just let go.

:thumbsup:

Now quit your damn bitchin'.

[Softdreamer]

We are footing the bill for security for Obamas visit! :D

This is just the bill for Embassy Secretary's chafferer driven 100 metre trips to Starbucks.

[Teh One Who Knocks]

Since Prince William and Kate are coming to California soon, maybe we should tax their visit the whole time they're here :-k

[Muddy]

Wait till they get our bill for the use of those spy planes.. Muhwhaaaaa hahaha

[Godfather]

Wait till they get our bill for the use of those spy planes.. Muhwhaaaaa hahaha

Ya I was just thinking about that... maybe someone should mention to Mr. Johnson it's not a good time to worry about a measly $5 mil. when the government wants to borrow UAV's worth anywhere from 5-35 million a pop :lol: