UTC was shocked to discover that Glasgow City Council has spent the best part of £100,000 hiring vehicles to replace parts of its fleet that don’t comply with the city’s new low-emission zone (LEZ).
The Auld Boy is a huge fan of the LEZ. This is understandable given SLR Towers’ close proximity to Hope Street, which every bus in Glasgow is apparently legally obliged to navigate while belching out God knows what from their exhausts. Given that the street includes a fairly steep hill, and the nearest branch of William Hill is at the top, a rush hour trip to the bookies after work isn’t much fun for an unfit geriatric like Under The Counter.
Anyway, it turns out the Council was forced to drop a large chunk of UTC’s much-grudged council tax hiring two eight-tonne trucks, a cherry picker, a refrigerated van, 52 Transit vans and 22 Vauxhall Corsas to cover for its vehicles unfit for the LEZ.
Fair play to the corporation though, it also dished out penalty notices to 21 of its very own dodgy diesels nabbed in the zone during the first two months of its operation.
Under The Counter, who could teach Liz Truss and Kwasi Kwarteng a thing or two about unsound monetary policy, thought this was a genius idea and a brilliant way for the council to quickly recoup all the money it shelled out hiring motors.
And that folks, is a salutary example of what prolonged exposure to diesel fumes will do to your brain.
