Rod Liddle Rod Liddle

Britain: petty official capital of the world

The former Tory whip, Tristan Garel-Jones, now Lord Garel-Jones, was searching for a cashpoint while in his car recently. He found one but there were no parking spaces available, so he approached a traffic warden by the side of the road and with some trepidation asked if he might double park for just a few seconds while he withdrew some money. The warden replied: “Yes of course, sir. I’ll keep an eye on your car while you use the cash machine.”

That was in Spain. Can you imagine such a thing happening in England? Can you imagine even asking the traffic warden in England? How did we end up so officious?

 

Already a subscriber? Log in

Keep reading with a free trial

Subscribe and get your first month of online and app access for free. After that it’s just £1 a week.

There’s no commitment, you can cancel any time.

Or

Unlock more articles

REGISTER

Comments

Don't miss out

Join the conversation with other Spectator readers. Subscribe to leave a comment.

Already a subscriber? Log in