HM Government Punishing Victims of Crime

Yesterday on BBC Radio 4 'You and Yours' I was hearing about the scammers making money from people needing passports. Scam websites that add 25 GBP to the fee when all the site does is redirect to the official site.

I worried that my brother might have been caught by a scammer but, however he booked and paid he did get me a result -

But the whole experience was horrible and incurred additional costs that added to the sense of the victim of crime being punished. First the 128GBP to book the HMPO appointment, then the train fare to London plus parking at the rail station and the London Transport costs from Kings Cross to Victoria, around 200 GBP in total. 

Having to spend the day travelling to London and back for a few minutes spent in front of a passport office clerk was not a good use of my time. At any stage of life we have a finite number of days, hours, minutes and we should spend them wisely.

The DVLA punished me further by refusing to issue a replacement driving licence. No holiday car hire for me. Does HM Government care?

Unlikely, the cronies will no doubt have a system of their own. Spend a few thousand, or have a word with a Minister and all will be resolved.

I refuse to be bowed totally by the institutions and authorities that alienate me, the people determined to impose penalties on this victim. Instead I'll share an anecdote from the interview with the very serious passport office professional. Remember, I paid 103 GBP for the few minutes in front of this person.(the other 25 GBP went to scammers)

Officer: "Oh, you were in Australia?"

Me: "Yes, that's right."  

Officer: "When did you return to the UK."

Me: "January."

Officer: "I've always wanted to go to Australia, but I don't even know which continent it's on."

Me: "Australasia."

Clerk at the adjacent desk then leans over and says, "Australasia includes New Zealand and Papua New Guinea."

I left the office wondering just how well our country is protected by HMPO employees demonstrating such low levels of curiosity about the world.

As an elderly woman being made to stand while the official was seated I was reminded of the police sitting with their laptop and leaving me standing and did also wonder if this was a government policy. Victims must stand to be quizzed.

Maybe my brother was asked if he wanted a seat, you might have to pay HMPO extra for a seat?

(PS - formatting even worse than usual today - but I do only have an ancient PC running Vista that the thief didn't take - who can blame him?)