Another victory for freedom and common sense?

[j4bberw0ck]

Department of Transport thinking about giving bailiffs statutory right to enter your home and remove goods for sale to pay unpaid parking / speeding fines. (http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=/news/2007/04/10/npark10.xml)

Whether you got the ticket or not! [evil]

[Angela]

No, obviously it's outrageous and hopefully nothing will come of it!

I see you're now a 1k Orger, jw0ck, congratulations ;)

[Penelope Pitstop]

What next will they come up with.........[evil]

[Angela]

What next will they come up with.........

Well penelope, just close your eyes and think of the most ridiculous, outrageous, impossible thing imaginable....think...that could never happen! [lol] Open your eyes again.....and lo and behold....yup, it's the latest wonderful new idea dreamed up by Those Who Know Best......GRRRRRRR [evil]

[Penelope Pitstop]

Well penelope, just close your eyes and think of the most ridiculous, outrageous, impossible thing imaginable....think...that could never happen! [lol] Open your eyes again.....and lo and behold....yup, it's the latest wonderful new idea dreamed up by Those Who Know Best......GRRRRRRR

Mmmmmm............very scarry thought isn't it.[disgust]

[emb123]

Good job there is an election coming up. We can let them know what we think of these crackpot schemes :)

[j4bberw0ck]

I've just had it pointed out to me that it won't apply in Scotland because there are no bailiffs operating as they do in England and Wales. [para]

But it does show the way the government thinks - civil servants able to sanction actions which deprive people of the protection of the process of law.


I see you're now a 1k Orger, jw0ck, congratulations

Thank you, Angela!

[Angela]

I've just had it pointed out to me that it won't apply in Scotland because there are no bailiffs operating as they do in England and Wales.

But it does show the way the government thinks - civil servants able to sanction actions which deprive people of the protection of the process of law.



I thought that would be the case, but imagined that sherriff officers/messengers at arms could be given the same task here in Scotland. :confused
It is indeed the thinking behind it that's worrying.[para]

[dozerboy]

they did something similar in Scotland with the poll tax by having a warrant sale for people who didn't pay - there may be a legal way round it so they can do similar in Scotland. Not being a legal mind, I have no idea though!!

[emb123]

I agree with you Angela & J4bberw0ck, it is a sign of the way this government thinks. Very worrying.

The Americans have been getting away with it with Guantanamo Bay for ages so maybe the US & UK governments have started to think "hey, we really can do what we like - we're the Government!! After all, who's going to stop us ?"

Develop this 'a Police State is the perfect state' government thinking and twenty or thirty years from now, all kids will be fitted with transponder implants at birth and be tracked by satellite & huge computers with AI software that listens for anything seditious that they say.
'If you don't do anything wrong you'll have nothing to worry about'. Small steps.

[Rheghead]

Only the guilty need to worry in a police state though.

[j4bberw0ck]

No. Everyone needs to be worried because you can never be sure the police in a police state won't be utterly corrupted by their powers and decide that maybe you (even you, Rheggers, fine upstanding citizen as you doubtless are!) are guilty of something...........

[Angela]

Surely just disagreeing with the party line would make you guilty in their eyes? :confused

[mareng]

I once got a letter from HRC stating that they would be sending the bailifs around to poind goods to sell in order to settle a "perceived" Council Tax bill.

As I knew that the payments had been made - I told them to go ahead, because they would probably have to take around £1000 of goods to realise the £250 cost. Then - when they realised that I owed them nothing...................... I would get a whole lot of new items at their expense.

That's when they had a closer look at things and discovered that they actually owed me money, but it would take a month or so to pay it.

I got paid the following week after I threatened to take a day off work and personally collect the money (including costs)

Very satisfying exchange :)

[JAWS]

What a missed opportunity Mareng, You should have told them you would sent the Bailiffs round! :lol: