As a magistrate of more than 25 years, I am exasperated by talk of a black hole in the nation’s finances when a solution is at hand (‘We had no alternative’: Reeves defends her budget to the CBI, 25 November). Take a motorist caught doing 26 in a 20mph zone. In the traffic court, we’d fine someone on benefits, who pleads guilty, around £150 in total, or roughly 100% of a week’s income. But if the motorist is, say, a top-flight footballer, the total would be around £950; potentially 0.000009% of a week’s income.
Why the glaring disproportionality? Because our legal advisers insist we can’t breach an arbitrary £1,000 fine ceiling, which has existed since the year dot.
