The proposal to charge a £15 ‘victims levy’ to those who are given on-the-spot fines or fixed penalty notices is cheap. Not cheap in the ‘affordable’ sense, but in the sense of moral bankruptcy.
There’s no way of avoiding the simple fact that this is a tax. The government is extending the application of this levy because an increase in the fine itself would look bad in the newspapers. It would be yet another indication of a government running desperately short of funds, while we already know that they are desperately short of ideas, except when it comes to finding new ways of taking money from our wallets and inserting it into theirs.
At the same time, trying to criticise this move draws fire from groups which support crime victims. By opposing this tax, are we not being insensitive to the victims of fixed penalty crimes such as speeding? Hell, the current administration might even be able to make a public relations success out of it. Imagine that – the government taxes us, and we love them for it. Victim support groups are happy (until inevitable budget cuts at a later date, as the extended levy picks up the slack), and we’ve successfully made a few million to help soak up the losses made during the financial crisis. Let’s have a cold one.
I don’t buy it. The government may be on firm ground when saying that speeding is not a victimless crime – claiming it is a ‘minor offence’ will certainly incur the wrath of the victim support – but what about letting your dog foul in the street or dropping litter? What victim support fund is in existence for these crimes, and how do I claim my share?
It’s a troubling fact that the existence of this stealth tax almost goes without saying, that we know instinctively that the interests of victims have barely factored into the government’s equations when seeing the potential fiscal benefits of this venture. If those behind this actually cared about victims of crime, they would find a way to fund this move out of existing charges. But who would expect this government to turn down a chance to make a quick and easy few notes while we foot the bill?
