Corps news – Embassy 15 – February 2009

Mayor urges US Embassy to rethink CC boycott

Mayor Boris Johnson has called on President Barack Obama to reverse the US Embassy's refusal to pay the congestion charge.

According to Transport for London, the Embassy owes almost £3m in unpaid congestion charges and penalties.

Mayor Johnson said he hoped the new US ambassador would reconsider the issue, saying: "It is my hope that we will see a more cooperative approach from the United States Embassy."

He said "more than 70%" of diplomatic missions in the capital pay the charge, adding that TfL London was "actively seeking a positive resolution of this issue for all missions not paying the charge."

The Mayor was responding to a question by Lib Dem Assembly Member Caroline Pidgeon who said the amount owed by the US Embassy was "staggering" adding: "The money, far from being insignificant, would make a real difference _ for example funding new cycle routes or numerous improvements to pedestrian crossings.

"A new US ambassador will shortly be appointed following the election of President Obama and I can't think of a better start to a new relationship between Londoners and the US than a change in policy from the US Embassy."

But the US Embassy press counsellor Philip Breeden has argued in The Guardian that the congestion charge is a direct tax prohibited under the 1960 Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations. He added that over 100 diplomatic missions agreed with the US position.