Thursday 19 September 2013

19th September 2013

As Nick Clegg tries to convince us (himself?) that the Dem half of the con-dems is a natural party of Government, all three of them, they could fit into a 'phone box in Downing Street and let No 10 to bring in a bit of cash!

Watching the performance as he tries to lure Labour into a new movie Coalition: The Sequel, I was reminded of a story about George Bernard Shaw.

Apparently at a dinner party he asked one of the female guests if she would sleep with him for 2000 guineas, after a brief consideration of the proposition she agreed that she could.

He then asked whether she would sleep with him for 200 guineas.

What do you take me for? she asked.

That has been established he replied, we are now negotiating the price!

Like many folk now, I tax my motorcycle on line.

The DVLA web site is excellent and does the work for you as it interrogates the relevant sites to establish that you are insured and that the MoT is up to date.

The licence arrives promptly and saves queueing in the Post Office or local DVLA office.

But it is not always thus.

I suppose that you should always be careful what you wish for (note for Nick Clegg).

But like many folk we find the evidence of obvious abuse of Disabled Parking Badges extremely annoying, especially when the spaces are full or a passing Chancellor is sitting in one eating his burger.

But they have tightened up on the application process. When the renewal notice arrived it said that you could complete the form on-line.

After two abortive attempts when the web site crashed, I got as far as uploading the indoor critics photo, no! that was a step too far.

So I thought I know, I'll save what I've done so far and try again later, I wrote the tracking number down and when I went back duly typed in the number.

This number is not recognised I was informed. Ouch!

It was only when I turned to the paper version pen in hand that I read that even if I completed the form on-line, I still had to supply various pieces of evidence to prove that she was she and send them BY SNAIL MAIL and not to forget the cheque.

So, actually completing the form on-line was actually a waste of time, and also, because when I finished it was raining, a waste of a sunny morning.

To me this experience is a warning that for some folk who may not be able to readily steer their way round a keyboard shifting all our contact with national and local government on-line could render them even more disabled than the they might already be. (Note for Mr Duncan Smith)

Surely the message is, if you are going to require all contact to be on-line then make sure that the programme you employ is fit for purpose?

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