Today we celebrate a small victory. Small in the great scheme of things but, as is the nature of such events, significant in its' own way.

I've not posted a blog about the incident as it was heading towards the courts (although the evil control freaks I was dealing with will deny you this if they can) but hence there was always a whiff of 'sub judice' about it.

So what am I on about? Congestion Charging. That great London rip-off so designed to tax road use, rather than really mitigate against congestion, and so successful in raising money (or not as the case may be) that it is soon to be extended to West London setting Major Ken against another huge slice of his subjects. Businesses are up in arms as the number of business closures continues to exceed the opening of new ventures - a situation which will only get worse. In the midst of the socialist economic miracle his relentless class war continues.

But I digress. So, why are we celebrating? In a nutshell, I lodged an appeal against a Congestion Charging notice and received notification on Friday that the charge would be cancelled. But it has taken a fair amount of perseverance and belligerence on my behalf to get there.

What happened?

In mid July I drove through London and forgot to pay the 8 pound charge. I called the next day and tried to pay, to be told that it is not possible to pay in arrears and that I would be receiving a Penalty Notice in the post. 50 quid. From an 8 pound 'charge'. Feeling this to be somewhat inequitable I wrote a letter offering an explanation and enclosing a cheque. The cheque was cashed 2 days later and I heard nothing more about it.

Until 6 weeks ago when a Penalty Notice arrived in the post. Along with - but in a separate envelope - a cheque from TFL (Transport for London) for the 8 quid I had sent them. Sneaky eh? Someone clearly had a game plan. Me too.

The process is fairly well defined from there: you have a right to appeal. Which I did and lost, receiving another letter informing me that I had one more avenue available and explaining the rationale for the system (more on that below). You can ask for an ‘independent review' which I did and if you are not successful that is the end. If you don’t pay they will take action to recover the debt. No court appearance – they are able to enforce an action against you and send in a bailiff if needed.

Needless to say all the correspondence from them is a mixture of threatening and patronizing, but the most worrying aspect is that you are denied the option of being heard in court. Even a speeding motorist has the option of pleading his case in front of a magistrate. It rarely does any good, but isn’t that the whole point of ‘innocent until proven guilty’?

In TFL land they operate the system and own the whole process right through to collecting the money. You have no right to either be heard in court or have legal representation. Welcome to the new world run by the likes of Major Ken. Worried? You should be.

So how was I able to successfully appeal the charge? Well I based my argument on the simple principle that I’d paid. In fact they state that is not adequate: you have to pay in accordance with their rules (i.e. in advance etc.), but I’d sent the money: by encashing the cheque TFL had accepted it. By doing so TFL had varied the terms on which you pay, not I.

In a particularly nauseating letter from them they suggested my 8 quid had been accepted in part payment of the Penalty. Thin Ice. As at that date they had not issued a Penalty Notice and until such time as the appeal / review process is completed no Penalty is legally recoverable. And they'd already taken my money, so I held the view that whether or not I had paid in accordance with their rules, by taking payment, they'd accepted.

Seems that someone saw a problem and realised that I was both persistent and had a case in law. Needless to say, TFL are too smart to offer an explanation other than say ‘the charge has been cancelled due to a clerical error’.

The supreme arrogance of the way the process is designed to intimidate, overcharge and force drivers to pay more than a reasonable amount speaks volumes about the way people are treated in the UK by organizations with authority like TFL. All we can do is stand up for what is right, refuse to agree, argue, be belligerent, hold on to our principles and, above all: ‘Nil illegitemi carborundum’. Don’t let the bastards grind you down.

Vintage champagne never tasted so good and, while we celebrated this small victory, I reflected on the fact that despite the iniquity of TFL and their like, there remains a vestige of justice in Blighty.