In message , at 11:08:59 on Sun, 10 Jun 2007, Andy Hall remarked:
It does not *require* it, but neither does a traveller *require* a passport to travel overseas, in that sense. There could be other ways, which did not involve showing people bits of paper. Nevertheless, in both cases, the paper solution works best.
In message , at 11:33:13 on Sun, 10 Jun 2007, Andy Hall remarked:
The bits of paper are an essential side effect of their underlying objectives.
In message , at 11:14:12 on Sun, 10 Jun 2007, Andy Hall remarked:
The futility of your argument is pretty clear and obvious.
Who suggested the death penalty? Or was it just castration that you had in mind?
In message , at 11:31:01 on Sun, 10 Jun 2007, The Natural Philosopher remarked:
The scenario the police are looking for is the one where the bloke's labour is drug dealing, burglary etc.
Oh FFS. Just because we mere plebs are not on speaking terms with the chief constable does not mean we do not have a valid opinion about what is going on. You and Colin seem to be on a real arrogance trip at the moment. Your standard arguments seem to be "Can't be done because of this obscure problem that only *I* know about" to "Get yourself elected". Methinks you've been in power too long. You've completely lost sight of what either of the words Liberal or Democrat means. Authoritarian Autocrat would be far more accurate.
Sounds more like we should move to the US model of License plates rather than Registration plates.
Well if that's the best the police can do no wonder their success rate is so low.
In message , at 11:25:12 on Sun, 10 Jun 2007, Dave Lloyd remarked:
Having experienced that system at first hand, it is administratively indistinguishable from the UK system.
All that happens is that you affix the annual bit of paper to the licence plate, not the windscreen. In some jurisdictions I think you need to get a whole new plate periodically, but I don't know the exact logistical details (where I lived it was just a sticker).
Potentially, you could read the licence plate and expiry in one go with ANPR - although they don't use very much ANPR. So in practice it's the MK1 eyeball again. Their system has the slight advantage that it can be queried from the rear (a typical american policeman is more likely to be behind you in a car than in front of you on foot), but this is just fine detail.
I don't think so.
Oh good grief. Are you a civil servant or something?
I am sure that if you were to ask any policeman whether he would like more litmus tests at his disposal he would say yes. This does not mean that the test is useful for the overall objective, or the only or best way to do it.
No they aren't.
The bits of paper are because that's how they have done things in the past. They didn't used to have on line renewal either.
Bollocks.
The iris scan systems in use at airports work quite well. I use the ones at Heathrow 1-2 times a week. The disappointment is that each country has a different system which is really rather stupid. More government incompetence - not just restricted to the UK, it would appear.
Not a mistaken view at all. It is you who is confused. I've maintained the position that bits of paper are not required, which is the case.
Either would do, although the former would be more beneficial to the tax payer. It would certainly reduce petty crime more effectively than bits of paper.
It has been shown that the presence or absence of a valid tax disc correlates very well with the general legality or otherwise of the car and driver. These coloured bits of paper, as you call them, are a very useful aid to law enforcement.
Mark
They're not required, but they are very useful. That being the case, what's wrong with having them?
Mark
It does, hence the :-), :-)
Eat an entire box of crystallised ginger.
Pish.
Drink the pish.
(I would imagine.)
Owain
We could just paint the numberplate on the roof of the vehicle, and subcontract the entire vehicle excise and road pricing clamjamfrie to Google mapping
Owain
In message , Dave Lloyd writes
Well, yes, but at least Post Offices are being left out of it :-)
In message , Tim Lamb writes
Good! :-) You, and most people, of course.
That happens more frequently that you would think. I accept the certificate as is, if just one digit is wrong, and tell the applicant to get a new one pronto.
The other favourite is an MOT certificate that hasn't been signed. Again, I'll usually accept it, if both applicant and garage are local.
Yes - we get paid for the transaction, so the payment is the same, whether the disk costs twenty pounds, two hundred pounds or 'free'. SORNs are worth less. A disc is worth 62.6 pence, whereas a SORN is
10.7 pence. That may not sound like much, until compared to, say, a bar coded bill (telephone, electricity etc.) which is worth 7 pence.During 2005, my monthly average tax disk sale was 155. The figure for last year was 129. May 2005 was 232, May 2006 175 and May this year
150.
There may or may not be a correlation. Whether or not that equates to them being any kind of useful tool for the detection of miscreants is another matter entirely.
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