There have been many emails over the years from readers who often won’t tell me where they are from. But with names like Ian, Jon and others it isn’t too hard to figure out. It’s especially obvious when a reader calls me a Yank and the email address has “.uk” Yes, I am a Yank and proud of it! And the work “Yank” doesn’t bother me, any more than someone of darker skin calling me a cracker. It just makes me laugh. Writing has a way of thickening your skin. With all that said, I’ve been absolutely astounded at the * A lady who pays £4,000 (~US$8,000) per year to ride the train for her daily commute is fined by the train police. What was her big transgression? She stood in an area marked off for baggage since there was nowhere else to stand or sit – even though she paid for a season ticket.So what? If the train is about to be underway and there isn’t anything in the baggage area, why should anyone care? New baggage isn’t going to suddenly spring into existence and require use of that space. But after they fined her on the spot the equivalent of about US$169.00, they told she could upgrade her ticket for £12. * Have a dumpster not sitting exactly where it should be along the curb or have the lid open just four inches? The trash police will fine you: Open four inches too far: Gareth Corkhill with wife Claire and son Josh Father of four shown above was taken to court and fined ... because he overfilled his wheelie-bin by just four inches. With his rubbish collected only once a fortnight, Gareth Corkhill's wheelie bin was so full the lid wouldn't shut. And for that, the father of four finds himself with a criminal record. Magistrates convicted the 26-year-old bus driver after hearing evidence that the lid was four inches ajar, which is against rules to stop bins overflowing. He was ordered to pay £210 (~US$400) - a week's wages - after he declined to pay an on-the-spot fine imposed by the local council's bin police, who visited him wearing stab-proof vests and carrying photographic evidence of his crime. To add insult to injury he was told to pay a £15 victim surcharge to help victims of violence - despite there being no victim - and threatened with prison if he failed to pay. (dailymail.co.uk) * Drive a little fast out in the middle of nowhere in the * Say some bad language in public? You can be fined for that, too. * McDonald's restaurants in the The company that manages McDonald's car parks, Civil Enforcement, also works with a string of other blue-chip companies. BP used it until recently to monitor some of its petrol station forecourts. * Speeding fines up by 400 per cent - Motorists are paying four times more in speeding fines than when Labour came to power, according to figures obtained by the Tories. Drivers are now paying £200 (~US$400) a minute to the public purse, prompting the Tories to accuse the Government of treating them as "cash cows." (telegraph.uk) * HMRC ( Tax officers will gain powers to inspect and remove information and documents, while the Treasury will limit the amount taxpayers can reclaim in wrongly paid tax from six to four years. Income tax, capital gains tax, VAT and stamp duty tax will be among payments covered by the new regime. Fines can be imposed from March 2009 on tax bills calculated from March 2008. (guardian.uk) * Two Saudi Arabian students have been fined £800 (~US$1,600) after causing an alert at Edinburgh's Waverley station by wearing Halloween masks as a prank. * A £6,000 (~US$12,000) fine was levied against a 'loud' restaurant. Regular use of loud music has landed a Tilbury restaurant in court and with a huge bill to pay. (thurrock.gov.uk) * Train operator is to prosecute 600 more passengers for putting their feet on their seats. Merseyrail said it takes action to stop anti-social behaviour on the network and cut down on damage to carriages. Miss Jennings, who was wearing flip-flops at the time, was issued with a summons to appear in court by an enforcement officer. Miss Jennings faced a criminal conviction which could have cost her the chance of a career as a teacher. But on Tuesday Chester magistrates decided to impose no penalty on the maths student and branded the decision to prosecute her "draconian". Miss Jennings, from Oldham, admitted "willfully interfering with the comfort or convencience" of other passengers. Her transgression was forgiven - She was given an absolute discharge, which means she will pay no fine and has no conviction against her name. Miss Jennings, who is also a Cub Scout leader, claimed the magistrates' decision was a victory for common sense. But it has emerged that Merseyrail is to take 600 more passengers to court for putting their feet on its seats. (dailymail.co.uk) Publicized examples of endless fines and taxing could go on and on for thousands of pages. The questions are: Why is this taking place? What is the UK government attempting to do? Is the idea of the ruthless, fine and tax crazy UK government to eventually create a mass revolt? Is this simply government out of control because the people don’t push back? Or is this just another no-so-subtle implementation of the "New World Order?" For the next UK citizen that writes me to criticize America, I encourage them to first look at UK taxes and fines first. I know of no other country exercising such ruthless economic attacks against it’s own people. Ted Twietmeyer
Tuesday, 26 August 2008
UK Ruthlessly Fines and Taxes its Citizens
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