High Court Ruling on Bike Parking Tax is deeply flawed – but it paves the way for a successful Appeal…

Some riders have been dismayed by a High Court Judgement against a claim lodged by NTBPT Chairman Warren Djanogly – that Westminster City Council used Traffic Act powers unlawfully, and to cover the creation of a new tax on motorcycle parking in on-street bays that had already been established and paid for. But I am not.

The first ruling in the courts was always going to find in favour of the council in my view as there is far too much at stake for the first judges on the case to cut to the chase and effectively acknowledge a truth that is incredibly inconvenient for our ‘Traffic Management’ policy shapers and shippers.

As most riders can see as plain as day, Westminster’s scheme had nothing to do with Traffic Management, it’s all about something completely different. IT’S JUST ABOUT THE MONEY HONEY!

But the problem they and we have is that UK law does not allow them to say they just want our money out loud. Amongst other things there is a major snag in the Local Government Act, 2000, (3.2) It expressly forbids any local authority from introducing a scheme run by private contractors that creates a revenue stream. But that all came too late to protect drivers from an extensive range motoring taxes because those evolved over decades, alongside a smart range of bureaucratic washing machines which the money goes into and comes out clean. Unfortunately for Westminster, the laundry service failed to work when they decided to try and tax riders in exactly the same way as drivers. It is clear for all to see – and even WCC admit it – that within a few months of starting their ‘experimental’ version of the motorcycle parking tax scheme, they made a cool ’surplus revenue’ aka profit, of half a million quid by the time they were legally entitled to make it permanent. Currently of course they claim to be making a loss, but if they can get away with keeping this tax they sure as hell won’t make a loss for ever...

Anyway, the reason I’m not dismayed about the ruling is that it has done even more than I’d hoped or expected. In order to find in favour of the council, the ruling would have to include fundamental flaws because nobody in their right mind could possibly believe that the Traffic Orders in question could do anything other than create a new revenue stream – and those flaws are now out there and open to successful attack and review. Better still – if there is any justice to be had – that will lead to the ruling being overturned.

Now, here is my take on where we are and what’s next, including a recap of the basics for anyone who is new to this saga. And I realise that what follows is a bit of a whopper of a read so I won’t be offended by the odd bit of nodding off, snoring or legging it up the pub – or gong for a ride instead. You can also take your time reading anyway as it will be the last thing I post for a bit as I am off at the end of the week to recharge the batteries for a couple of weeks, on a small island in the sun and warmer rain than we have here in Blighty.

And so, it came to pass…

The High Court ruling, of 16th July 2010, on a hugely significant claim that Westminster Council had used Traffic Act powers unlawfully, is fundamentally flawed in my humble but expert opinion by failures to grasp key facts and see black holes in the defence case. The claim was made on behalf of the NTBPT and all objectors to this regressive tax, of whom I am proud to be one, and it asserted that the council had effectively used Traffic Management Act legislation to cover the creation of a new tax on motorcycle parking in on-street bays that had already been established and paid for.

But the ruling is demonstrably wrong as far as I and a number of other observers are concerned, as it fails to address three fundamental flaws in Westminster’s defence of making the Traffic Orders in January 2010, that were made to convert an ‘experimental’ version of pay-by-phone charges for parking in on-street bays to a ‘permanent’ scheme.

The judgement identifies “two clear objectives the Authority sought to achieve the introduction of the parking orders”. And it says that these two objectives are legitimate goals for the Authority to try to achieve by using Traffic management Orders, to introduce new charges for on-street parking of motorcycles in bays that were already designated and paid for to accommodate use for that purpose.

The first legitimating ‘objective’ is, “to improve on-street parking availability for motor-cyclists” but this is demonstrably totally wrong, as it is not an objective that is identified at all in the official ‘reasons’ for a permanent version of the charging scheme. The second objective according to the judges was, “the termination of discriminatory treatment between motorcycles and cars.” But again, one of the big problems with that is that it was never identified by Westminster as such. Here, under ‘publications’ is where Westminster hid their reasons for the permanent scheme on their website – and they can be found in the Statement of Reasons document in PDF form. But see if you can spot either of the reasons that the judges say Westminster gave for the new charges, and that the judges said made the council’s use of Traffic Management Act powers to create a new tax lawful…

So, fundamental flaw No. 1. The judges have ruled that Westminster’s use of Traffic Orders to create a new revenue stream – and force riders to pay a new tax to park in bays that were already paid for – is ‘lawful’ because the ‘objectives’ for the new charges was to do two things that the council has never claimed as reasons for the new scheme… Er, how does that make sense in or out of a court of law?

But there is more that is wrong with this ruling. Fundamental flaw No. 2. The key question to be considered and ruled on in this case has been completely missed and left out of the judgement.

The critical question is not whether WCC could lawfully use Traffic Act legislation to introduce a new charge for motorcycle parking on public highways. The question to be ruled on is this: Can WCC lawfully use Traffic Act legislation to increase the powers it already had to manage demand for kerbside space – but without making a case that it’s existing powers had failed to manage such demand – AND in a way that would be rectified by the introduction of a new category of charges and trigger for penalty fines aimed at riders of scooters or motorbikes? And let’s get things clear here, as I explained to the judges in a section of my witness statement, WCC had all the powers it needed to control motorcycle parking and ‘manage demand for kerbside space’ by all motorised modes. There is not one inch of public highway controlled by Westminster where they have any demonstrable need to increase their power to decide who can park what, where and for how long – with or without out paying a fee or incurring a fine.

The last main flaw in the judgement of the case certainly has a critical impact on the rights and wrongs of the ruling for riders. But in my view it has an even greater impact on establishing the extent to which ‘consultation’ procedures about local authority use of Traffic Management powers can be skewed – in order to use them to do nothing more than create new revenue streams.

Throughout the entire consultation process on the ‘experimental’ version of the scheme, and once a decision had been taken in principle to make it permanent, consultees were consistently told that the main reasons for the new charges for on-street parking in designated bays was to fund further improvements to motorcycle parking amenities. But fortunately for all concerned now, I and other sceptics became increasingly bothered about the likelihood that Westminster were pushing the idea of funding further improvements as the ‘main reason’ for new bike parking charges, not because it was, but because it would limit the amount of opposition from key stakeholder consultees. So, in an attempt to push the council to reveal more about the main reasons they would give to ‘justify’ a decision to convert the experimental scheme into a permanent measure, I arranged and attended a meeting between Danny Chalkley who was Westminster’s Cllr in charge of the scheme at the time and Craig Carey-Clinch as the Motor Cycle Industry Association (MCIA) representative. In that meeting, dear old Danny smiled reassuringly and steadfastly denied that the main official reason for the charges was ‘demand management’ – and he repeatedly gave Craig and thereby the MCIA firm verbal assurances that the real reason for introducing new bike parking charges was to fund loads more improvements to on-street motorcycle parking. With my encouragement some weeks later, Craig invited Danny to confirm his assurances about the main reason in writing, but as I expected, that written confirmation never came.  But never mind all that well spun flannel flopping around in that meeting, as a matter of hard fact, Westminster made a fundamental change in the thrust of the official main reasons for the new charges. And, unfortunately for Westminster, I reported all that in the witness statement that the judges were obliged to read and consider. And the fact that the court’s first ruling seems to neatly avoid any consideration of those events doesn’t mean they can be ignored in a second round.

Anyway, a key fact of the case and in my view the lawfulness of Westminster’s use of Traffic Management Act powers to create a tax, is this: The first ‘main reason’ one was of course encouragingly positive for those who accepted it at face value, namely to improve the accommodation of rider’s needs to park – but the second one was extremely negative, namely to ‘restrain’ demand for bike on-street parking as the primary reason and to deter people from choosing to use a motorcycle at all in Westminster for unspecified ‘environmental’ and ’safety reasons.

But the most critical thing about this change that the judges ignored in their ruling was the timing of when that change was actually officially confirmed. The first time anybody concerned could know what the main reasons for the permanent version of the scheme really were, was when the Traffic Orders were published on January 22nd, 2010, just three days before the permanent version of the scheme came into force on January the 25th! Sounds a bit smelly? Not quite the way that truly legitimate consultation procedures are run? You bet.

To put it mildly, this neat trick had a crucial skewing impact on the reliability and validity of the consultation processes that has not been addressed at all in the ruling. To put it bluntly it was hugely misleading for all consultees at best, and at worst a key element in a very long con.

So, what’s next? Well, as far as I can see, so long as the NTBPT Barrister makes these flaws clear to the courts, the only way that justice can be done and seen to be done is for an appeal to be heard and a fresh ruling made. I’ve spent some of today making a few suggestions for the Barrister to consider as part of his request for an appeal and sent them off. So, all I can say for now is fingers crossed then…

Boris Johnson filmed ‘threatening’ to stop bus lane use by motorcycle and scooter riders – unless protest against WCC bike parking tax is called to a halt

In an extraordinary outburst from Boris Johnson, London’s Mayor, broadcast by BBC news, he makes what NTBPT protesters have called a “threat” to stop motorbike access to bus lanes – unless they stop protesting against Westminster’s highly controversial motorcycle parking charging scheme. This episode has now also been reported by Guardian blogger Dave Hill

The mayor can be clearly seen and heard saying: “Do you want to stay in bus lanes?” To which the rider at the protest says “of course we do” – with the Mayor replying: “Well stop this protest”.

In response, Warren Djanogly, Chairman of the No To Bike Parking Tax group,   said: “This would seem like a thinly veiled threat, bordering on blackmail.”

A fuller report of the incident was aired on BBC London News as the headline story for their lunchtime bulletin today.

The bikes in bus lanes measure to which the mayor refers is being run as a trial throughout the whole Red Route network of strategic roads in the capital.

But as it happens and with a bizarre coincidence of timing, the trial version of the measure is due to end with an independent report on the results due for submission to TFL this month.

Up until today, the Mayor had made it clear that the decision to keep bikes in bus lanes would depend entirely on the results of the report which is being conducted by TRL. Sources tell me that the trial results are likely to show that casualties involving cyclists have dropped in bus lanes which are shared with motorcycle and scooter riders. If so, that result alone should make it very difficult for our avid cyclist mayor to turn the clock back and stop motorbike access to bus lanes – as it may well cause a rise in casualties to his fellow riders.

As ever, we will have to wait and see what happens next. But my hope is that the Mayors’ newly focused concerns about the bike parking tax protest will now be focused on discussions about the real cause of that problem, namely the Westminster City Council scheme – which is not only hugely unpopular and has no demonstrable traffic management benefit – but according to the council is now running at a shocking loss. As it also happens I will soon be meeting with the new Westminster City Council Cabinet member who has inherited responsibility for this ill-conceived scheme and will be hoping to find a way forward that is truly sustainable and good for all concerned – including our colourful mayor!

Revolting French bikers…!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! ‘I love the French the bastards’…

In case you haven’t seen or heard, the French have been revolting again. This has been well documented by fellow biking blogger UK France Bikers and by Bikes in the Fast Lane among others.

Of course we all know that the French are second to none when it comes being revolting. Demos, strikes and riots can be triggered by almost anything. But mass disruption on the streets becomes almost inevitable if their politicians take a break from having affairs and talking bollocks in French – and try to do something that limits civil liberties. Even rider’s civil liberties. And, for reasons that I will explain shortly, news that 40,000 or so riders of motorbikes and scooters have been jamming traffic as only they know how, reminded me of a poem by a good friend of mine. Once, long ago, he was sent to jail for upsetting the English establishment by publishing a magazine they didn’t like called OZ. Then he published a top selling bike magazine for a while back in the 1970s before making shed loads of dosh by publishing other magazines throughout the world. And his poem starts like this…

I love the French – the bastards,
I love the French – the swine,
I galls me to admit it,
But how I love their wine…

Read more…

But any chance I might have had to forget how good the French are at revolting, or how much better they are at it than us in the UK was completely buggered the other night.  I was trying to have a quiet beer with the NTBPT Chairman Warren Djanogly, to catch-up and discuss what’s been happening but…

“WE SHOULD BE LIKE THE FRENCH” shouted W. THEY DON”T MUCK ABOUT WHEN THEY DON’T LIKE SOMETHING, THEY TAKE TO THE STREETS IN THEIR TENS OF THOUSANDS AND THAT’S WHAT WE SHOULD BE DOING HERE! OUR BIKERS SHOULD BE LIKE FRENCH BIKERS!

W went on on this theme for some considerable time and at a volume that could quite possible be heard in France, even though we were actually drinking in my favourite watering hole in Soho, which incidentally, my now poetic chum Felix Dennis was a founder member of, along with some of his mates.

Anyway, I tried to explain to Warren that we were not in France. And that while I accept that all bikers and scooterists have much in common these days, I also tried to suggest that UK riders have not been in the same high profile Street Fighting Man league as the French are for a very long time – if ever. The nearest we got was probably back the 1960s, when mods and rockers were embroiled in headline grabbing ‘clashes’ and bouts of bashing seven bells out of each other.

However, W was having none of this and carried on shouting that UK bikers SHOULD BE LIKE FRENCH BIKERS! ETC.! So, with all due respect to a man of passion in mid-rant I drank my beer with good cheer – and quietly had random thoughts about what we do and don’t have in common with our sometimes allies and sometimes enemies across the channel. And that’s when I began to recall the poem that in my view sums up our love hate relationship with them rather well.

But yesterday, as I started writing my next column for MSL along such lines, I realised that there were stronger links between the cause of the latest outburst of biker’s rebellion in France and the trigger for my old mate’s brief stay in jail. Right now, French riders are protesting big-style against a smart arse move to fine them for doing things that French and UK riders have done for years – and to benefit of all road users most of the time. It’s called filtering or ‘lane splitting’ as the French authorities choose to call it.

But the reason for big trouble now is not because filtering has been made illegal in France – it’s because some bright spark has come up with a money-spinning way of using camera systems to ‘enforce’ the laws against it that have been quietly ignored for decades. As you may imagine, the promoters of this new application of an old and unused law are trying desperately hard to claim it’s all in the name of good old road safety. But it seems that riders in France have one thing to say about that which is: My derriere!

Meanwhile, back in the days of OZ, the law that Felix and his co ‘conspirators’ was prosecuted for breaking was one that had not been applied in living memory. According to the establishment, he and his chums were ‘conspiring to corrupt’ the morals of young people and were being prosecuted under obscenity laws. But in reality the real corruption was within the ranks of those who were supposed to be upholding and enforcing such laws as this article reveals. It also turns out, forty years on, that none of the kids who were supposed to be protected from the infamous schoolkids issue by enforcing old laws were never in any danger from publications by Dennis or any of his old chums.

Now we can be sure of that about the poet and I am equally sure that eventually we will find that the ‘dangers’ that French authorities claim they wish to protect road users from by fining riders for filtering are just as exaggerated…

Overhaul of UK parking fines system long overdue but will any politicians have the guts to support it while Westminster stay top dogs in issuing dodgy PCN gravy train tickets?

Over the last few days I’ve been rather more immersed than I’d like in the dark and dodgy business to be found lurking behind the smoothly drawn official lines about parking schemes and scams. The most pressing things have been focused by calls from the NTBPT to help them and their legal team deal with Westminster’s plan to try and force riders of scooters and motorbikes into the clutches of ‘golden contract’ Verrus As you may recall, this lot have a potentially juicy contract from WCC to use their super-slick pay by phone systems to extract a brand new bike parking tax. And they’ve already trousered well over £2 million from the first few months ‘trial’ of the new tax.

But there is good news on that front though as the case against the legitimacy of the WCC plan, and recent Traffic Orders to try and make it a permanent fixture, is already big and powerful. And, following a meeting I went to last Friday where the NTBPT team discussed refinements with their lawyers, and we all went off to get a few more crucial facts and figures, I can say that the case is growing stronger each day. And there will be more to say on that very soon after the application for statutory review is lodged this Friday!

However, there may be other glimmers of hope for progress. These latest steps in what will be a crucial case for all UK bike and scooter riders also coincides with a new coalition of forces to call for a complete overhaul of the way parking is ‘managed’ in Britain. As this article reveals in useful detail. But this has prompted me to do a mini review and dig a bit deeper to see how we got into what seems to me to be an increasingly nasty and abusive mess.

Ever since parking enforcement was ‘decriminalised’ in 1991, i.e. it could be done for councils by big profit-making companies – in exchange for a slice of the cash extracted for ‘managing’ this aspect of road use – it has become a very big business indeed.

In fact the latest figures show that the total income from UK parking charges and fines reached an eye-watering high of £1.9 billion per year. And, to make matters worse this is not only one of the few real growth industries in terms of revenues, it is probably the fastest growing one in Britain right now. Some councils doubled the income they squeezed out of motorised road users in the last year alone – and one is trying desperately hard to bolt a new bike parking tax on the side.

But as we all know, whenever big sums of money are at stake there will always be some players who are prepared to bend or break the rules as much as they dare – to get a bigger slice of the action. And recently I’ve had to do a bit of digging to discover who is doing what on the dark and dodgy side.

So, the less good news for me has been finding out just how rotten our parking enforcement systems have got. The number of parking penalty charge notices PCNs that are unlawfully issued is staggeringly high. This is clear to see if you know where to look, as all UK councils have been forced to reveal the figures. But top of the national league in issuing dodgy PCNs – which is in my view nothing short of an abuse of local government powers is… well who do you think? Yep, as Westminster City Council’s Annual Report on Parking shows, they are streets ahead of all others when it comes to the number of fines they have to withdraw because they were unlawfully issued in the first place.

Since 2005, Westminster council has agreed to cancel an average 20% of all PCN notices to pay a parking fine each year as they were found to be unlawful for various reasons. The extent of this unlawful use of Traffic Management power is shockingly quantified by the council’s own figures.

In 2008/9, there were 133,856 instances in which a PCN for an alleged parking offence was cancelled as it had been issued without due evidence that a violation had been committed.

This works out at an average of 372 unlawfully issued fines per day! Does our UK system in which this can go on need overhauling? You bet.

So now back to the big question about whether UK politicians will support new challenges to the rotten parking enforcement systems we have – and riders are facing more of. In my view the answer will depend on various things. But the key one in the run-up to the election is whether they think there will be more votes in supporting the challengers, or the fat cat players who are currently driving the gravy trains.

Well, I’m sorry to say that’s all I’ve got time to say for now as there is still quite a bit to do before Friday – when the next few rounds in fight against new bike parking taxes will begin…



Will the UK Serious Fraud Office investigate claims that top Westminster Council officers were part of a £200m Parking Enforcement contract scandal – or not?

Unless you are new to Britain or live in a shed or up a tree, you will know that the business of ‘enforcing’ parking regulations frequently arouses suspicions of foul play. Parking contract activity may seem like a dull aspect of local governance, but since it was ‘decriminalised’ in 1991, it has become quite ‘exciting’ for some. And, with parking fees and fine incomes for UK councils totalling £1.9bn per year in 2009, it has also grown into a very big and often murky business indeed for others, especially in that most illustrious and wealthy of London Boroughs, run by Westminster City Council (WCC).

But, the latest focus for suspicions may cap all that have gone before. This week, two top WCC officers were formally accused of a series of offences under the Fraud Act 2006, and of Gross Misconduct in Public Office. I learn late tonight that the BBC have now picked up on this. The claims were lodged by the No-To-Bike-Parking-Tax (NTBPT) campaign group against the suspects who are… Well I’ve just heard that one of them is shaping up to take legal action to block being named and attack anyone with the temerity to question the legitimacy of his recent actions, so, as I have no intention of interfering with the due course of justice, I have for the moment removed the names of the suspects…

To be fair to Westminster, as I always try to be, theirs is not the only place where the execution of parking business can at times become unseemly or shown to be illegal.

Dodgy doings by private parking companies with hugely lucrative council contracts across the UK have been well documented over many years. And, as the latest ‘SHOCKING’ video evidence shows, the UK’s ‘leading parking enforcement firm’ APCOA, recently employed a couple of ’swaggering’ wardens to act as agents of local governance, but who seem to have extended the ’services’ they offer the local community to a spot of illegal drug dealing.

I can’t vouch for the reliability of this footage or legal case against the two ‘civil enforcement officers’ though, but note that the National Newspaper who published reports of these seemingly criminal actions has not been made to take them down as yet. I am, however, fairly confidant that if the two officers caught on film were selling illegal drugs, they will probably be subject to rigorous investigation by their employers and be brought to due justice by the police. In fact the employers APCOA were quick to say they were “appalled” by the allegations and are taking them “very seriously” and that “any suggestion of illegal activity by their employees, would be taken straight to the police”. Strangely though, I am far less confident about what will happen to the two senior officers on the Westminster payroll. I am even doubtful about the extent of justice that will be brought to bear on this case.

For a start, the video footage of two blokes in parking enforcement officer’s uniforms doing a sixty quid dope deal is clear – and looks like damming evidence of deeply dodgy conduct. Whereas it is not so easy to see such clear proof of what that Gilchrist and Large may have been up to. Especially as the evidence so far is currently all in a 54 page report that details the various claims about what they have been doing behind the scenes where big value enforcement contracts are transferred from one company to another. But although I make no claims to being a legal expert, I have read the complete list of ’suspicions’ of wrong doing and have formed my own opinion that that there seems to be some serious and well evidenced reasons to doubt that due procedures have been followed.

In a nutshell, it is claimed that the WCC officers made a series of moves to enable Westminster and over 30 other councils to change the contractor they used for parking enforcement, but without going through the full tendering processes that local authorities are required to do by UK and EU law. Crucially though, if it is eventually proved that this is what they have done it could mean that all of the councils involved will have to pay back over £200m to people who were issued with PCNs by companies that had no legal right to do so.

So, with that amount of local government and big parking company business revenue potentially at stake – and the ongoing £billions from future enforcement contracts – it should come as no surprise that the activities of ********* and ***** are likely to benefit from a significantly more well funded defence than a pair of dope dealing traffic wardens are likely to muster.

It also seems likely to me that a whoever is involved with investigating the allegations of Fraud and Gross Misconduct, they will be in for an uphill struggle and will face intense scrutiny and great but probably well hidden resistance from various aspects of the government machine. Initially, this investigation will be by the Met Police who have told me tonight. “We can confirm we have received an allegation of fraud on 10 February. The allegation is currently been looked at. We are unable to discuss further at this early stage.”

I also gather that whether this ends up being investigated by the SFO will depend on various factors including the amount of cash that ends up being considered to be at stake.

Meanwhile, the latest news I’ve been given from Westminster tonight comes from Mike More, Chief Executive of Westminster City Council. He tells me that these allegations are all part of an ongoing campaign by a “motorbike protest group who are unhappy over parking charges in Westminster”. Although More fails to acknowledge a parallel set of similar claims being investigated in Sunderland by the Parking Appeals car driver group co-ordinated by Neil Heron. Anyway, More goes on to say that WCC “remain confident that the parking contract was properly let by our officers and all allegations of fraud or deliberate wrongdoing are completely unfounded”. Although he feels obliged to add that they are now considering their legal position to see what action they should take in response to these claims with a suggestion that “if “there is an investigation “we will fully co-operate with any police enquiry and I fully believe this will resolve the issue.”

But with no undue disrespect for Mr More, the Met police have already issued a crime number in response to the NTBPT claims – so it is already clear that an investigation is going to happen – and has begun. What remains to be seen is how far the investigation will go and to see if the SFO will be drawn into investigate these allegations that senior officers have been engaged in Fraud and Gross Misconduct. All I can say for now is, that we’ll all have to wait and see but don’t hold your breath though because this is in my view likely to be a very long winded affair…

NTBPT Gridlock Central London & Win Round 1 in fight against plans for UK Bike & Scooter Parking Tax as Office of Fair Trading start investigating case against Westminster…

As GMTV warned on their morning news and this slideshow shows, the ‘gathering’ demonstration ride organised by the NTBPT and mentioned in my previous post, did indeed bring traffic to a standstill in central London. You can also see a nice little film of these goings on here. Ironically, these ‘amateur’ protesters took a leaf out of the professionals’ latest book on high-tech road user tax extraction systems – as written by Messrs Gilchrist, Chalkley & Slick-Willy pay-by-phone merchants Verrus – & the ‘gathering’ was triggered by simultaneous multiple text alert. Cripes and gadzooks!

So, within minutes of the text going out, hundreds of peaceful but angered riders suddenly gathered at Trafalgar Square and began riding round it during a lunch time demo.

The most astonishing thing about the event though – apart from the fact that there seems to be nothing that the authorities could do to stop it happening – was to see how incredibly quickly a relatively small number of riders could bring all the roads into and out of Trafalgar Square to a gridlocked halt. As a fellow riders rights champion, BMF Chairman Anna Zee said to me once we’d all arrived at Milbank. “It was incredible to see what a huge impact a relatively small number of riders can have within three minutes of gathering together and starting to ride perfectly legally round a small but critically central roundabout…”

Anyway, once the protesters had made their point of protest about the bike parking tax plan being pushed by Westminster, the riders all moved on in appropriately dignified fashion through Whitehall and Parliament Square and were joined by over a 100 more to rally outside the Tory HQ at Milbank.

A key point for the demo was to encourage the Conservative party leaders and key members to think about the huge damage that one of it’s flagship council’s (Westminster City Council no less) is doing to their reputation by trying to impose a new Stealth Tax on riders of powered two wheelers.

Currently, the word from Tory central office is that they regard this attempt to pioneer an unprecedented extra tax against a key group of vulnerable road users as a ‘Local Matter’. Correspondingly, I have it from the highest levels inside Tory HQ that this unprecedented plan to create a new M/C parking tax and spread it across the UK is something that party leaders are not going to bother about or to consider in a broader context. But I’d add, yet.

In my view, which I have shared with their top transport policy adviser and a couple of Tory MPs who were prepared to listen so far, this could be a very grave mistake unless they think again about a plan to impose an extra new tax on UK riders. Especially as just about all of the million plus motorbike and scooter riders in Britain also just happen to be VOTERS as the RAV campaign is beginning to explain in time for the next election.

It is also crucial for me to point out that it is not just the Tories who are seeming to hide behind the excuse that ‘this is a local issue’ while turning a blind eye to bad or unjustifiable policy decisions to create new revenue streams via ‘motoring’ taxes. After all, the Labour party and Lib Dem central office have also all held back from anything remotely close to condemning this stealth tax for what it is

But sadly, up until now my suggestions and indeed those from others in the motorcycling community have fallen on stony ground. Nevertheless, there is also some very good news for all concerned with treating riders as part of the solution to many congestion problems instead of seeing them just as a target for a bit more ‘motoring’ tax.

I learned late on Friday that the Office of Fair Trading OFT has reconsidered it’s earlier attempt to try and pass the buck for investigation of claims that Westminster have bent or broken rules to ensure trading is done fairly. After a great deal of work on submissions to the OFT by Graham of NTBPT and a couple of tweaks that I added to his latest contact with them their new position looks like this:

“Due to the complexity of the issues you have raised your case has been passed to our Preliminary Investigations Team and has been allocated thirty working days for research and response.”

Well done to all concerned I say – and round 1 to the NTBPT!

One set of rules for riders and another for our rule-makers and enforcers?

I frequently walk by this M/C parking bay, but the scene I saw this week got me thinking about rules. Who makes ‘em, what for – in theory and really – and who has to abide by The Rules and who can get away with flouting them…

The first thing that started me thinking in that direction was the surprise of seeing how full this bay was on a dark cold drizzly night – having approached it from behind the sign. And, I guess I should explain that the bay is usually fairly empty these days, but not because riders in London don’t go out in the cold or at night. In fact this bay used to be rammed full to overflowing pretty much 24/7. But that all stopped when Westminster began their ‘experimental’ scheme to try and force all scooter and motorbike riders to pay a new parking tax – which they did by changing the rules in all of the few M/C bays in the central area of London where the council make the rules. And to keep the picture clear despite the murky photos, bays like this one that were designated for bike parking without risk of fines for ‘illegal’ parking, are inadequately scattered amongst the acres of road space that are covered by parking rules which are to ‘manage traffic’ in theory. But in reality of course, the main reason for these rules is to keep the money flowing in from the Cash Cow that parking enforcement has become.

Anyway, it is also clear from these pictures, and loads more here, that the scallywags who have defaced the new scheme signs have broken some rules in a rebellious effort to invalidate the enforcement of a bike parking tax in that location. And I gather that this particular type of signage customisation/ vandalism is called ‘Rathboning’ as these acts are attributed to a mysterious ‘Captain Rathbone’ – and a loose collection of pirates who keep doing these dastardly deeds. However, as I said before, I am not in a position to condone such rule-breaking for various reasons, not least of which is my concern that such activities could harm the reputation of ‘bikers’ and scooterists in London. But what I can and will say is that these Rathboners are not the only bunch involved with this new riders’ tax who seem to be breaking rules.

I have seen the full range of formalised complaints against the pioneers of this new bike parking tax scheme, and the evidence to back such claims. Most of this has been gathered and submitted by a dedicated few in the NTBPT. But the claims and evidence that triggered an EU Commission investigation has come from very big international players in the parking enforcement business who are very aggrieved by what they claim is very serious rule-breaking indeed. So, from what I’ve seen, I can say that all sorts of rules may well have been bent or broken, in order to get this new tax imposed for the moment on the central streets of London.

But now it seems we’re at a point where reactions to rules and rule-breaking are getting complicated. Having seen the initial rounds of formal responses from the organisations who are supposed to investigate claims about rule breaking and take action to stop it, or chuck out anything that is wrongly achieved by it, it looks like some of them are trying to wriggle out of doing their job. Currently, it would seem that the Office of Fair Trading is suggesting that it would be best if they let the EU Commissioners  investigate complaints that the bike park tax pioneers at WCC may have flouted rules to ensure that trading in Britain is actually fair. Frankly I’m not convinced about that but not being an expert on fair trading laws I’m not qualified to say, but I gather that the NTBPT are in touch with bods who can.

Currently, the OFT are not alone in resisting calls for action. Other official bodies who have been asked to investigate potential rule-breaking behind the scenes by the bike tax pioneers, are also trying to buy some time before getting on with investigations. And, in a way this is understandable as they are run by civil servants in outfits like like the Department of Communities and Local Government and the Audit Commission, where all will be wondering if they’ll still have a job after the next election.

So, for now, it is clear that some rules about defacing signs are being broken on the street by individuals who feel that such actions are their best or perhaps only path left for expressing their views about a new bike parking tax. What is far less clear though is whether those who have made new rules to tax riders have broken even more behind the facade of Westminster City Hall. We will also have to wait and see if the public servants who are responsible for investigating rule breakers do their job as well and fairly as they should. Personally, I very much hope they do in due course. But I will not be holding my breath in the mean time – and will be doing what I can to encourage all concerned to respect the rules that deserve respecting most…

Record depths reached in push to be Britain’s top ‘Robber Baron’ or just a new cut in ‘free’ parking, or could this be good news for bike parking tax opponents?…

I am rarely surprised by the depths that a desperate politician will plunge to, while trying to justify action that stinks. In my experience this often happens when a plan for a government move is being pushed that is nothing more than state backed extortion or highway robbery – and that looks to most law abiding citizens like the acts of a robber baron rather than a servant of the people.

But as you can see by the expression on Cllr Chalkley’s face, even he is struggling to make it look straight as he tries to deny that his council’s latest plan to end ‘free’ parking in London’s West End and throughout Westminster, is just a new way to screw more cash from riders of motorcycles and scooters and motorists.

On the face of it this latest plan by WCC may seem like very bad news. In essence it is to put parking charges up again and end ‘free’ parking on single yellow lines up till midnight!  But I think that there is a huge silver lining to this otherwise very dark cloud, and especially  for all who have been battling with Westminster over their attempts to make an ‘experimental’ M/C parking tax a permanent fixture. More details at NTBPT. The bottom line here for me is that this latest move is already being seen by the majority of people and businesses in the West End as nothing more than a revenue grabbing move that will do a great deal more harm to all concerned than good. In turn, this majority in the heart of the capital will start to see the riders who have taken to the streets to oppose the council’s tax attacks on them less like a nuisance – and more like knights in shinning armour – and no matter whether the steeds they ride are great big motorbikes or nifty scooters.

Another key factor here for me – and IMHO all riders to consider – is that this is NOT A PARTY POLITICAL ISSUE. Westminster are of course a Tory council, but UK councils of every colour including Labour and Lib Dem, have, up until now, followed WCC’s lead in creating ever more sophisticated cash cows for milking motorists in the name of ‘traffic management’ – and supposedly ‘encouraging’ people to walk, cycle or go by privatised ‘public transport’. And, of greatest concern to me, they are also watching with keen interest to see if Westminster can get away with turning all motorcycle and scooter riders into a new source of local revenue by imposing extra road user taxes targeted at them.

Now, back to my views on the latest in Westminster and the pic of Chalkley. My choice of image may seem a tad unfair as this shot may have caught him at a ‘bad’ moment. Even more revealing though (as you can see in the BBC interview linked below) is the long pause as he says “…err…” while composing himself to deliver a statement that looks to me like a bit of a fib! To be frank though, anyone prone to strong feelings about weaselly attempts to justify more tax, under the cover of ecoist faith or ‘traffic management’, may even suggest that what our elected member may be saying about Westminster’s latest plan is a heaving steamer!

Nevertheless, in the sprit of fairness and decency that I try to live and write by, all I can say about whether lies are being told or not is that you will have to make your own mind up. And, you may find this live BBC interview helpful in drawing your own conclusions.

What I will say though is that one of things that troubles me most about this latest plan to end what is commonly described as ‘free’ parking – including by the objectivity seeking BBC – is that PARKING A MOTORCYCLE, SCOOTER OR ANY OTHER PRIVATE MOTOR VEHICLE IS NEVER FREE in Britain. As I and others have said before, all law abiding vehicle owners in the UK pay far more in motoring taxes and duties than most people in the developed world, and vastly more than is ever spent on public highways.

Lastly, I will add that the real reasons why congestion continues to be a great problem in UK towns and cities, and especially Westminster has nothing to do with parking as dear old Danny Chalkley and many others claim. The key causes of ongoing and often worsening congestion is that most local authorities continue cutting the amount of road space that the majority of people are allowed to use. Let battle continue in the fight against robber barons – were ever and who ever they may be and whatever they’re trying to nick, be-it our cash or public highway road space!