another retarded move from the loony left

[Katielondon]

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/london/7240309.stm

what a stupid proposal, particularly as hes not planning on doing it until October and the Mayor elections are in may, i wont be here by then but i really hope he loses the election as its just another load of nannying and thinly veiled class/wealth envy. i refuse to pay the congestion charge anyway on principle by avoiding the zone.

[Leonie]

I think it's a great idea. There is no need to drive everywhere in central London. You have what is quite possibly the best public transport system in any major city I've ever seen or heard of. Europe as a whole is working on reducing carbon dioxide emissionsby a significant percentage. We're not going to get there by pussyfutting around. It's only in line with what is a policy the whole of Europe are adhering to.

Btw, if it's just "another retarded move from the loony left," don't you think your comment about the thinly veiled class/wealth envy is a little out of character? Isn't that normally ascribed to the right wing of the political spectrum?

[hasselbrad]

The right usually has all the money. Rich Republicans lean to the right.

[Leonie]

Yes, but wanting to maintain class differences and an inequal wealth division is the popular intepretation of right wing parties, no?

[Katielondon]

i think Londons public transport is poor to tell the truth, the tube is busy, claustrophobic and just plain disgusting in the summer, the buses are filled with irritating school kids or people playing music on thier mobile phones and the trains are a rip off, if i was staying in London i would just register my car in another EU country, drive it back and not pay the congestion charge, and there would be nothing he could do about it because he can only issue fines to UK registered cars, its amazing the amount of cars you see in London now that have non UK numberplates, its not that i couldnt afford to pay its the principle why should i line his pockets when all he does is waste money.

i think there is a culture amongst some in the UK now to be jelous and envious of people that have done well or have nice things, so they think joining Greenpeace and moaning or introducing things like this is really going to bother the wealthy.

[Leonie]

I doubt the government is quite so spiteful...

No public transport is going to be free of fuckwits or sparkling clean. That's cause life isn't free of fuckwits and sparkling clean. Your public transport is frequent and reasonably dependable, though, which is a lot more than can be said for a lot of public transport. Count your blessings.

If that's not good enough, nothing ever will be -- the alternative is everyone driving a car, which would redefine the word traffic jam and be terrible for the environment.

[Katielondon]

they under invest in public transport, there is where the problem lies(in the UK as a whole), the mayor of London is quite happy however to pay a considerable number of his staff and aides a six figure salary for not doing a great deal, still theres every chance he will lose the Mayoral election in May which i hope he does, preferably by an embarassing margin too.

Funny, that news even made it to the front page of the newspaper here in Germany

I guess you have to see both sides: On one hand it will not significantly reduce London's CO2 emission (I read about 0,001 %) on the other hand it is a symbolic decision. I mean, why do you have to drive some sort of jeep in the city center of London ? If you still want to do it, well go ahead, but pay for it.

At the same time I believe it would be necessary to improve the public transportation system and make sure that it is affordable for everyone (I don't know how it's done in London but here as a university student you basically get to use the public transportation system for free).

But frankly, there will always be screaming kids and strange people that's just the way it is. You learn to appreciate it, if you have to live somewhere without it. (I remember my US-high school year as a foreign exchange student, it was no fun in that regard ).

[Katielondon]

Originally Posted by TBird

Funny, that news even made it to the front page of the newspaper here in Germany

I mean, why do you have to drive some sort of jeep in the city center of Londen ?

a quad zone climate controlled enviroment, heated comfortable seats, music, TV, or get the tube?, it isnt really much of a contest, fortunatly i have less than a month less living in London but if i were staying i would simply register my car in another EU country and not pay anything at all.

[Leonie]

I don't know the exact details of the extra fee, but as long as they don't tax half decent cars too much extra, I don't see the problem.

As for idiots who think a hummer or jeep is the way to move around in the heart of London - you deserve every last penny stolen from your account. Evidently, you can afford to drive a petrol-guzzling car in a city when a much more efficient one would do, so don't bitch about the extra charge.

[Foeni]

Originally Posted by Katielondon

a quad zone climate controlled enviroment, heated comfortable seats, music, TV, or get the tube?, it isnt really much of a contest, fortunatly i have less than a month less living in London but if i were staying i would simply register my car in another EU country and not pay anything at all.

Is registering your car in another EU country not forbidden? If you live in Denmark, you're not allowed to drive a Swedish car in Denmark for instance. You'll get a nice big fine and will be charged with the taxes, 180% of the car's estimated value.

On the subject, I'm against regulating like that. There's been talk about it in Copenhagen as well, but thankfully nothing happened so far. Our public transportation both sucks and is fucking expensive. It's actually cheaper for me to borrow my parents car and drive one person in the car when I'm going to see a friend... Doesn't really make sense, does it?

[Katielondon]

i wouldnt own a Hummer, as for driving in London a 4 x 4 is a perfect vechicle for it because of the badly maintained roads, speed humps everywhere and the amount of very bad forigen drivers everywhere, my car isnt grealy inefficient either, its diesel and manages about 25 miles per gallon.

[Katielondon]

Originally Posted by Foeni

Is registering your car in another EU country not forbidden? If you live in Denmark, you're not allowed to drive a Swedish car in Denmark for instance. You'll get a nice big fine and will be charged with the taxes, 180% of the car's estimated value.

On the subject, I'm against regulating like that. There's been talk about it in Copenhagen as well, but thankfully nothing happened so far. Our public transportation both sucks and is fucking expensive. It's actually cheaper for me to borrow my parents car and drive one person in the car when I'm going to see a friend... Doesn't really make sense, does it?

as i understand it in the UK your allowed to drive a car that is from another country for a certain amount of time, if you still want to after that time your meant to register it in the UK but theres not really any way of telling when the car drove into the UK so its not really enforceable.

[Katielondon]

it looks like this wont be happening now, bye bye Ken you wont be missed, its good to see London finally had some sense and gave him the well deserved boot, repeated stabbing and torture would have been preferable but oh well you cant get everything your own way