Letter from London

摘要

A designer I know is moving back to the UK after living in Germany for several years. Before Christmas he told me that he would have to sell his lovely Aston Martin -because of the 70 mph maximum in dear old Blighty. He won't be pleased to hear that on parts of the motorway system, the government is planning to reduce the speed limit to 60 mph, because of EU regulations regarding air quality. April Fool's Day has come early this year, except that the story is true. Punishing motorists is a favourite pastime of UK regulators. Oblivious to the fact that they underwrite the economy through direct and indirect taxation on a truly huge scale, local authorities, Department of Transport bureaucrats and the loonier end of the environmental brigade like to beat up drivers, whose only public champion is Jeremy Clarkson.