Can you believe it???

The transport minister, Norman Baker, is looking at raising the amount councils can charge if people park illegally. Currently the fine is capped at 70-pounds outside London. The Liberal Democrat MP is concerned that the penalty is failing to keep pace with fines in London, where the maximum is 130-pounds. He thinks it isn't enough of a deterrent to illegal parking.

then he should come and join us in the real world, and maybe come to realize we don't all get the same sort of money as he gets, all things are relative, somebody who is on a pension, £70 is the difference between eating or going hungry, to him what he would expect to pay on a single meal, how come these sort of people know what it is to find £700 each time they park illegal, all things are relative, something the ruling elite do not understand.

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Its not always the biggest and the bestest, its them that make the least mistakes.

This latest outburst of insane vindictiveness from Norman Baker is yet another indicator that MPs don't see their role as representing the electorate and protecting them from genuine evil. MPs like Norman Baker see their role as being the persecutor of any who do not agree with the 'politically correct' view of the world.

They came for the smoker, they are coming for the innocent wine drinker, they demonise any who do not subscribe to man-made global warming, they intimidate and ridicule any who exceed the ridiculous Body-Mass Index, anyone who speaks against open-door immigration is labelled a racist, they have the scent of blood in their nostrils for 'economically inactive' pensioners, they label as 'fruit cakes' anybody who does not agree with Britain being part of the EU, and they are constantly hounding the motorist.

Who will they come for next? The motorist will always be somewhere close to the top of their list because private transport represents too much individual freedom – and political correctness is diametrically opposed to normal and natural freedom. I predict that the next group to be viciously singled out for direct persecution from the likes of Norman Baker will be those who believe, and say, that true marriage can only be between a man and a woman.

Political correctness is being applied to steadily and deliberately reduce us all to one common, mindless, and robotic state of compliance to the insane directives of the globalist ruling elite.

Those public sector pensions will not pay themselves you know!!

All councils are now reliant on this money to balance the books. Did you not see the recent Panorama about LB Hammersmith and Fulham who have a whole department set on revenue collection and targets to be met.

Time for another peasants revolt. when will these poly bods come to realize its a whole new and different world outside the big house, where values that we live bye, are poles apart from the cocoon they live in, called reality, they claim to be representative of us all, 40% of the 60% that voted, don't sound like the majority they claim to have, a benign dictator would be far better than this mish mash of conflicting views, and spending most of the time arguing, rather than getting the job done, all in the name of what they call democracy, even a committee would do better, even that would be a job for the boys, sack the lot and lets get back into the real world and put the money it costs to better use.

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Its not always the biggest and the bestest, its them that make the least mistakes.

They're coming round to our road three times a day now because our road has a white line along the kerb so people can park with two wheels off the road. I've seen no end of cars with parking tickets stuck to their screen.

The council are earning a fortune right now - how can they think of increasing the fines?

Because the rules (which they make) allow them too and they are short a few bob....

See my earlier comment re pensions..

I think the fines are ringfenced and the council can't use the money for anything other than parking enforcement.

If you want to dig through it this page

https://www.whatdotheyknow.com/request/132038/response/327350/attach/html/3/FOI%204495%20Parking%20Revenue.pdf.html

will give you the breakdown on what LBH makes on its car parks and parking penalties. 2012/13 was a little short of £3million.

http://www.londoncouncils.gov.uk/policylobbying/transport/parkinginlondon/parking-faqs.htm?showpage=-1



My bold....

In other words it frees up other council finance which can then be used for paying public sector pensions.

I often read and post on TripAdvisor, and there is currently an outraged topic on there about parking charges in Polperro, Cornwall. Visitors to the town are charged £4 for 3 hours, and it is seriously affecting local trade and businesses.

I agree, it is a ridiculous price. Then I looked at the parking charges at Mt Vernon Hospital here in Northwood. The first 30 minutes are free. Big deal, have you ever known anyone to get in and out of a hospital in 30 minutes, be it for something as simple as a blood test, let alone anything else ?

Look at the charges beyond 30 minutes though.

30m - 2 hours: £3.50

2-12 hours: £5.10

On my visits to see a consultant at Mt Vernon I have never known the appointments to run on time, so rather than sit in the waiting room sweating on whether I would be clamped or ticketed because my consultant can't stick to his schedule, I stump up £5.10 to be on the safe side. I know for a fact I won't be there for 12 hours ( hopefully ) but I am more or less forced to pay for that time period.

It is a crude and blatant money raising exercise, preying on the sick, the elderly and vunerable, and in any half decent society it would be considered immoral at the very least. I have actually had to cancel appointments in the past because I didn't have sufficient funds to cover the parking cost. It upsets and annoys me to see the way we are heading in this country, and the worse it gets, the more I want out of it one way or another.