The horror. When government fails to represent, that's when revolutions happen. But the current UK Labour government isn't seeing a spat with a million of its own subjects over the subject of nationwide congestion charges in the same context.

According to The Times, more than one million Britons have petitioned Prime Minister Tony Blair to reign in his overzealous Transport Secretary. Apparently, this official's been threatening to install GPS tracking devices in all cars in order to charge drivers up to £1.28 ($2.49) per mile driven. The purported aim is to reduce traffic volume on Britain's crowded roadways.

What can we say? George Orwell called it.