The Embassy of the United Arab Emirates (UAE) has agreed that its diplomats in London should pay the Congestion Charge, and has reached a deal to clear a backlog of charges.
After discussions with Transport for London (TfL), the UAE has paid £99,950 for outstanding Congestion Charge fines accrued by the Embassy from February 2003 to March 2006.
In a letter to TfL, the Embassy said: "I can assure you that every effort will be made in the future for all diplomats working for this Embassy to pay any Congestion Charges as and when they occur."
The Mayor of London Ken Livingstone said: "All Londoners will welcome this settlement with the Embassy of the United Arab Emirates and, in particular, their commitment to comply with the Congestion Charging scheme in the future.
"The Congestion Charge is designed to reduce congestion in the busiest areas of the Capital.
"Those embassies, such as that of the United States, which flout the laws of this country and misuse diplomatic immunity to evade the charge are enjoying the benefits of reduced congestion but contributing nothing."
"British diplomats respect US law when in the US. They pay American tolls on bridges and roads.
"The US Embassy should accept the advice of the British government and recognise that by trying to ignore this country's laws they do nothing but damage their standing in the eyes of London's citizens.
"I hope they will now take a leaf from the United Arab Emirates and understand that as the richest and most powerful country in the world they can well afford to respect this country's laws."
Malcolm Murray-Clark, Director of Congestion Charging, said: "The Congestion Charging scheme gives no privileges to any VIPs, so we do not see why diplomats should not pay.
"The UAE has now joined the majority of other countries who accept this is a legitimate charge."
Find out more about the Congestion Charge and why registering for FastTrack makes paying the charge online, at shops and by phone faster and easier: www.cclondon.com
Avoid being caught out by congestion, roadworks and other hold-ups with our Traffic Alerts service: www.tfl.gov.uk/trafficalerts
Check the traffic at locations across London with CapitalCams: www.tfl.gov.uk/cameramaps
