One can only wish David Attfield (‘Legal challenge set over parking’ Times Series, March 17) good luck in his legal challenge to the very large increase in charges for on-street parking in Barnet.

However, it might be worthwhile recapping why there is a need for the council to raise more money.

Less generous Government grants to councils and restrictions on council tax rises have occurred because of the overspending encouraged by the previous Government — both nationally and locally, including excessive executive pay rises — and the credit crunch.

An alternative way of raiding our bank accounts is required and parking charges represent the most convenient method — a poll tax on wheels.

An additional burden came when the banks required billions of our money to keep them from bankruptcy.

They had created apparently safe investment vehicles based on sub-prime mortgages and other high-risk collateral, had given these assets unrealistically high valuations, had postulated high profits where losses were appropriate and then paid themselves very large bonuses on these unrealistic assumptions.

The most immediate consequence in Barnet was the £27.4 million loss of deposits with the Glitnir and Landsbanki of Iceland and now written off.

Thus, the council is short of cash, owing to factors over which most of us in Barnet had absolutely no control and because of the extraordinarily risky decisions taken by our governmental institutions and bankers.

So, who are the mutts who are going for pay for this debacle one way or another? That, of course, is not the sort of question likely to crop up on University Challenge.

Derek Coggrave
Wentworth Park, Finchley