Congestion Charge

Londoners are never slow in giving you their opinion. Whether it's criticising the Dome or praising the Olympic bid, we simply like to argue. Oh yes we do. Oh no we don't...

We love... the Congestion Charge

Something had to be done. London was choking on car fumes. Traffic in the capital was moving at walking pace. And Ken Livingstone, part-time socialist and full-time Mayor of London, needed to make his mark with a scheme. His reputation was on the line.

It looks like his gamble has paid off. The irrefutable success of the Congestion Charge means pollution levels in the capital are set to drop dramatically. There are fewer cars clogging the centre of the world's most beautiful city. The roads flow more freely and journey times are shorter. And Ken gets to say: 'I told you so.'

Let's face it, Londoners are lazy. We go everywhere in our cars - to the shops, the cinema, even the park! - and now we've got good reason not to take the four-wheeler. More and more of us are taking to bicycles and scooters to get about town, and everyone's happy. Cyclists are getting fitter. Scooter riders arrive quicker. And those of us who are forced to use our cars at least have a decent chance of crossing the capital in under an hour now.

Long live the Congestion Charge!

We hate... the Congestion Charge

What will they think of next? Toll booths on the pavements on Oxford Street and Soho? Ticket barriers on escalators and outside lifts? Such ideas sound ridiculous, but no more so than charging Londoners £5 every time they want to get within a mile of their own city centre.

Use the Tube, I hear you cry. Have you been on one recently? Apparently, according to EU law, if cattle were transported under the same conditions as those suffered daily by riders on the Northern Line, London Underground would be closed down immediately for cruelty to animals. As humans, it seems, we are not afforded the same rights.

Buying a Congestion Charge-exempt scooter might be the answer. Journey times are a fraction of those endured on snail-paced buses, it's true. And one can weave imperiously through the heaviest traffic and arrive on time for every meeting - fact. However, calamity Ken has forgotten to provide any new parking for scooter riders. So most spend hours, sometimes days, circling Soho and the West End searching out a space until they run out of petrol and have to get the Tube home.  

As Londoners, it's our inalienable right to drive our cars anywhere we want. And without having to subsidise the capital's lunatic local governors.

Scrap the Congestion Charge immediately!

Where do you stand? Email us your views on the Congestion Charge at info@friendsinthecity.net

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