FINALLY we stumble upon a sure-fire way to beat York's parking tax. Get elected to the council.

We have become accustomed to political hypocrisy among MPs, who raid our pension funds while enjoying the most generous pensions in the country.

Now city councillors have caught the bug. Last year they imposed higher parking charges which hit everyone from the charity volunteer to the shift-working nurse to the barmaid - everyone, in fact, except councillors who have free parking passes.

They later attempted to do the right thing by voting to throw out the permits, as recommended by the Independent Remuneration Panel.

Quietly, this democratic result was overturned. Reimbursing parking fees incurred on official business would be too costly, someone in the council decided.

So the unfairness continues. Why should the charity volunteer, the shift-working nurse and the barmaid have to pay council-imposed charges to go about their business, and not the councillor?

If councillors insist on their right to be exempted from a cost of their own creation, they should at least make a claim per meeting as businessmen and women do.

Instead, the permit gives them carte blanche to park for free at any time. Not that they would abuse the system, of course: no doubt they are scrupulous about using it only for official duties.

But the fact remains, while the rest of us fork out a small fortune, they have perk and ride. It is called double standards and it should stop now.

Updated: 11:03 Friday, July 01, 2005