Mr Brown is understood to believe the row has been exaggerated by the media and has urged Labour MPs to look at the government’s overall tax changes, which he says have helped low-paid families.

How is loosing an additional £232 to tax each year an exaggeration by the media? The government has lost the plot. It’s time for a change.

Porsche has filed its court bid to quash the proposed congestion charge rise for high polluting vehicles.
The car maker’s legal challenge comes as London’s mayor, Ken Livingstone, plans to raise the daily charge from £8 to £25 for the most polluting cars.
In its High Court action Porsche described the rise, which comes into effect on 27 October in central London, as “unfair” and an “illegal” action.

This could be an interesting court case to watch. I’ve never been a fan of the congestion charge, mainly because I have no idea where the money that’s raised is spent. I certainly don’t breath in £8 of difference any time I pay to go into central London and I’m pretty sure that will be the same if it’s raised to £25 for certain vehicles.

This is very similar to the latest edition in Livingstone’s arsenal, the low emissions zone. Intended to prevent the most polluting vehicles from travelling in and around London by whacking them with a £200 daily charge. Again, do I breath in £200 worth of difference or is this just another system set in place to stealth tax the buggery out of us when it switches to every vehicle on the road?

I got a nice letter today from HM Revenue & Customs thanking me for my latest tax payment, which was close to £1,000. However, this wasn’t their real reason for writing. No. Apparently I still owe them one penny.

If I were able to send them cash, they would be getting a 1 pence piece taped to the payment slip. In fact, I might go into the post office, queue for twenty minutes and hand over my slip with a crisp fresh 1 pence piece. I wonder how many laughs I’ll get.