Ringing up the numbers

What a shabby, second rate country we are becoming. Is there no depth to which our third rate politicians and their fourth rate officials will not stoop to squeeze an extra few pence out of us?

Did anyone one spot that Joan Bakewell had won a minor court victory over Westminster Council and their parking scheme. It is a scheme which no doubt will soon be rolling out to other areas. Before you can think of parking you need to set up an account with credit or debit card details and then when you come to park you have to call an 0870 number and text in all your details. If you don't have a mobile, or, like many elderly people, can't really use one, tough. The system is attracting interest because it is cheap to run and does not involve parking meters or pay stations and with the level of confusion it can create there must be plenty of scope for fines.

With officialdom's record on confidential data you may as well just put your bank details on the internet and cut out the middle man but that is another story. The real kick in the teeth in this scheme is that the 0870 number you have to call is a premium rate line so you end up paying through the nose just trying to buy your parking time.

Just you wait, now some jobsworth has thought up that little wheeze it will be premium rate lines to any government or council department before we know it. A whole new stealth tax to play with.