London, UNITED KINGDOM:
While they may be the bane of every driver who is stuck for a space in a busy city centre, most of us accept that when we’ve parked on those dreaded double yellow lines, we’ll inevitably have to pay a fine later.
But that’s not the case for the various diplomats who inhabit the city of London. With the power of diplomatic immunity, the staff of embassies and consulates based in the capital are able to park where they like – and are not legally obliged to pay their fines. The result, as you can imagine, is some fairly huge debts racked up against the missions of London.
In an effort to shame them, the Foreign and Commonwealth Office has just released how much the the various embassies owe from last year. Top of the list this time is the Federal Republic of Nigeria, who owe a massive £39,225. (But even their debts are still dwarfed by the £11,925,920 the United States of America owes in unpaid congestion charge fines.)
In the spirit of trying to clear the clogged streets of London from the scourge of diplomatic parkers, Mr S presents the worst offenders here:
Diplomatic Mission/International Organisation 2017, Amount of Outstanding Fines (excluding congestion charge):
High Commission for the Federal Republic of Nigeria
£39,225
High Commission for the Republic of Zambia
£20,450
Royal Embassy of Saudi Arabia
£18,535
Embassy of the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia
£12,920
Embassy of the Republic of Côte d’Ivoire
£11,145
Embassy of the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan
£10,885
Embassy of the United Arab Emirates
£10,825
Embassy of the Sultanate of Oman
£9,650
Malaysian High Commission
£8,965
Embassy of the Republic of Azerbaijan
£8,735
Embassy of the Republic of the Sudan
£7,885
Embassy of Libya
£7,075
Embassy of the Republic of South Sudan
£6,890
Embassy of France
£4,960
Embassy of the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan
£4,485
Embassy of the State of Qatar
£4,055
Embassy of the Republic of Iraq
£3,685
People’s Democratic Republic of Algeria
£3,010
Embassy of the Republic of Liberia
£2,940
Office of the High Commissioner for India
£2,835
High Commission for Sierra Leone
£2,445
Embassy of the State of Kuwait
£2,415
Embassy of the People’s Republic of China
£2,290
Embassy of the Islamic Republic of Mauritania
£2,090
High Commission for the Islamic Republic of Pakistan
£2,030
Embassy of the Republic of Indonesia
£2,005
Embassy of Romania
£1,785
Embassy of the Russian Federation
£1,770
Embassy of the Republic of Angola
£1,750
Royal Thai Embassy
£1,625
Embassy of the Republic of Kazakhstan
£1,510
Embassy of the Socialist Republic of Vietnam
£1,320
Embassy of the Republic of Bulgaria
£1,210
Embassy of Georgia
£1,210
Embassy of Ukraine
£1,200
Embassy of the Republic of Uzbekistan
£1,120
High Commission of the United Republic of Tanzania
£1,070
SOURCE:Spectator.
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