Obama Motorcade Fined $200 for Not Paying $16 London Congestion Fee; US Embassy Claims Immunity
After allegedly ignoring a $16 congestion fee that President Barack Obama’s motorcade should have paid for traveling through London, the White House has been hit with a $200 fine.
But while the president’s office is apparently expected to ante up after what London’s mayor describes as a very friendly conversation with Obama about the issue at Buckingham Palace in May, United States diplomats in London—who allegedly have racked up an $8.5 million tab since the fee was introduced in 2003—are made of sterner stuff.
A spokesman for the American Embassy says they don’t have to pay a foreign tax, under 1960 Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations, the New York Post reports.
The article relies on information from two British newspapers, the Daily Mail and the Evening Standard.
Germany, Japan, Nigeria and Russia also reportedly owe hefty bills, according to London officials.
