We could of course have answered the EU's illiberal and authoritarian spitefulness like for like - requiring EU drivers to be equally inconvenienced when visiting the UK. But on balance I far prefer our superior moral position, proving our natural Liberalism and our position as Europe's most civilised and tolerant nation. Official advice is that:
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Except Raedwald, much as I dislike the "Beast of Berleymont", I doubt whether he is interested in stooping as low as our own government.
He knows very well, two things.:
The British government is perfectly capable of doing anything to stop folk here asserting their independence.
and
If this were not so, that any such curb on British licence holders, could be reciprocated and any freight vehicle that turned up at Dover would require a British HGV licence holder to take that vehicle any further.
It's all very well taking the moral high ground on trivial issues. The trouble is the Government is surrendering on all the important ones, so this is just one more issue where they are not seen to stand up for the UK.
Having worked for the DfT for a decade or, I know that many of those foreign drivers (particularly from eastern Europe) are responsible for driving sub-standard vehicles which are a direct safety hazard. And they are also over-represented in the accident stats on our motorways and trunk roads.
There are very good reasons why we might wish to be "reassured" about their driving ability.
DeeDee - I don't disagree - is it that the vehicles are substandard, or the drivers are dangerous or both? For substandard vehicles, by-passed tachos and the like, well, there's a good task to keep the Highways Agency lads with the flashy blue lights busy, surely?
The IDP doesn't warrant driver quality, though - it's just a bureaucratic nuisance, an annoyance, and a bit of official spite. We still have to rely on our coppers to enforce infringements of safe driving - if they can tear themselves away from the hurty-words compueter hotlines.
Since every move the ESpew makes brings its end nearer--then fuck 'em. I won't be visiting--let alone driving-- anywhere over there so they can do what they like. And it is good bad publicity for both them and the FFC who will be seen as a weak crawler who turns her back so that they can spit on it more easily. And bollocks to liberalism Radders.
You have to laugh at the pettiness of it all - media attention focused on inanities such as driving licenses, roaming charges etc when, if the truth was told, the UK has the upper hand in ALL such matters vis a vis anything THEY can do, WE can do in reciprocation. Not that we'd have to.
But this is the media strategy all along - note how there is ZERO reporting on how Brexit will affect the EU countries. Nothing whatsoever.
Nothing. at. all.
From day one - it's all been "the UK will suffer this, that and the other...." but the public's response (on the whole) has been "bring it on - it'll be worth it"!
I'm not so sure the Europeans have the same approach. They have a lot more to lose than we do. Not that you'll see, hear or read about it.
Really Raed? Driving licences? With all the important happenings the last couple of days, you choose to focus on the driving licences? And no I'm not talking about the brexSShiteur haruspices' harebrained prediction of a £squillangadzillionwillion boost to the British Rabbit Pelt driven economy to go along with the cake mountains and unicorn farms, nor am I referring to the now infamous 'Triple Face Palm cos sometimes one just isn't enough' photo. But, however one feels about Brexit, several important things have happened. The fact the UK can't afford the money nor manpower to police EU driving licences comes as no surprise ,as you yourself have said, we don't have enough fisheries protection vessels nor do we have enough customs sheds or officers.
When you have a successful globe spanning empire and the armed forces to match, it is easy to be liberal. As a second tier, or third tier, nation with pitiful armed forces and the delusion of "soft power", liberalism (with other countries) is a luxury you cannot afford. Otherwise you get taken advantage of. Which our membership of the EU has proved.
Britain might be proving its liberalism (though I doubt it).
In other news, school marm May supports EU's attempts at dictating national policy, which is not very liberal....... "Downing Street told European Parliament Conservative Party MEPs to distance themselves from Prime Minister Viktor Orbán after they had voted unanimously against imposing sanctions on Hungary"
PM Dis May is turning into quite the dictator.
@Raedwald
I took early retirement a couple of years ago - couldn't stand the chaos any longer - but there is no reason to believe the data will have changed by much.
The Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency is responsible for checks on foreign vehicles. They have a number of sites where they can pull vehicles over for random checks; many checked are sub-standard, some are positively dangerous with "heath-robinson" repairs. And these vehicles are going on some of the most congested roads in the country.
Highways England's Traffic Officers are not authorised, trained or equipped to carry out safety checks on vehicles and they have no powers of enforcement anyway.
Plod is only to be found when there's a major incident.
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