The Foreign Office defines serious crimes as offences that carry a jail term of a year or more, as well as serious driving offences. A Foreign Office spokeswoman said: “The UK government expects all foreign diplomats to abide by UK laws at all times and we take a firm line with diplomatic missions and international organisations whose diplomats commit offences. “We continue to pursue all unpaid congestion charge fees and related penalty charge notices.” The Foreign Office would not confirm whether both incidents related to the same person. Paul Cowperthwaite, Transport for London’s general manager for congestion charging, said: “We are clear that the congestion charge is a charge for a service and not a tax.

Source: The Guardian July 21, 2016 17:51 UTC