Tuesday, October 07, 2003
Tax police and Big Brother. While Wifey driving down the A1(M) to Cambridge we went under a flyover using British terminology or overpass in American lingo that I though was big speed trap with four radar guns. I was wrong. They were cameras that read your license plate, sent a digital image of it over to the Ministry of Transportation and Inland Revenue (the British version of the IRS), checked their databases and thought that we did not pay our Value Added Tax on our new car that we had for three days. That was done in 30 to 60 seconds. Right after we passed the cameras, we were pulled over by a police officer on a motor cycle who told us to follow him for a routine “safety check.”
Routine my ass. As we pulled up to this massive and improvised security check point off the side of the road, there was a converted double decker bus turned into a police station and holding pen, dozens of police, different types of government security types and a few goons in full battle rattle (bullet proof vests and HK MP-5 machine pistols) for muscle.
The police were polite and said we did not pay our taxes, so we pulled out all our paper wok to prove that we just did. Then they asked us for our driver license. I ready to tell him to toss off, do you have probable cause or a warrant? With Wifey and Pumpkin Girl in the car, I figure it would be more prudent to hand over my drivers license with my US government paper work and get clear of this mess. After that we were interviewed my some officer with the standard questions: who are you, how long are you here for, where did you buy this car, and blah, blah, blah?
So this is the face of the future? I can’t wait for it to show up in America. Also does the police in Britain wonder why people don’t trust them when they do the dirty work for the taxman, when they should be arresting criminals? The ones who did this and this should be tops on their list.
The Red Sox defeated the Oakland A’s! Now it is the Yankees turn! Time for a world series!
Routine my ass. As we pulled up to this massive and improvised security check point off the side of the road, there was a converted double decker bus turned into a police station and holding pen, dozens of police, different types of government security types and a few goons in full battle rattle (bullet proof vests and HK MP-5 machine pistols) for muscle.
The police were polite and said we did not pay our taxes, so we pulled out all our paper wok to prove that we just did. Then they asked us for our driver license. I ready to tell him to toss off, do you have probable cause or a warrant? With Wifey and Pumpkin Girl in the car, I figure it would be more prudent to hand over my drivers license with my US government paper work and get clear of this mess. After that we were interviewed my some officer with the standard questions: who are you, how long are you here for, where did you buy this car, and blah, blah, blah?
So this is the face of the future? I can’t wait for it to show up in America. Also does the police in Britain wonder why people don’t trust them when they do the dirty work for the taxman, when they should be arresting criminals? The ones who did this and this should be tops on their list.
The Red Sox defeated the Oakland A’s! Now it is the Yankees turn! Time for a world series!
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