President Obama recently slipped away for a conspicuously timed visit to the United Kingdom — traveling through London at one point — and apparently racking up a few local fines in the process.
If you frequent Leftlane, or any news outlet for that matter, you likely already saw footage of Obama’s heavily armored limousine apparently becoming high-centered while exiting a driveway. But that wasn’t the only news Obama’s motorcade made, as it appears the local government is demanding the U.S. pay a congestion charge for each and every vehicle in the motorcade.
London’s mayor, Boris Johnson, says he recently spoke to Obama directly about the £10 ($16.50) surcharge for each vehicle, in addition to a running total of £5.3 million ($8.75 million) in congestion fines – the most any nation has run up in the area.
“Our roads were not closed during the President’s visit so his motorcade will pay. The Beast will pay the charge, I’m delighted to say,” Johnson told The Standard.
The White House sees things differently, however, as they believe that the 1960 Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations prohibits the imposition of this type of tax on diplomatic missions.
Whether or not the U.S. will pay its fines remains unknown, but it seems rather unlikely considering over 45,000 individual fines have been accumulated since 2003.
References
1.’Pay up Obama…’ view
