Ah! Shows you how aware I am - I didn't notice the date on the original post. Don't suppose there is anything left of it now - all the parts will be elsewhere. It does seem to me strange, though, that it is so easy in this country to clone a vehicle.
Sometimes I wonder about Britain - you know, one of the top economies in the world, a phenomenal history of influence in the world yet we seem so inept at the basics which others manage as a matter of course. DVLA seem more interested in selling number plates than actually controlling registrations. Just look how often "mementoes" are offered for sale on eBay: a set of VIN plates and a data plate for a Land Rover for £500. It's obvious to anyone that the only purpose is so another Land Rover can be registered against the data and free tax claimed. Come to that, why allow free tax to "historic" vehicles anyway? If you drive a vehicle over 40 then you either have enough money to be running it for fun - in which case you can afford to tax it and pay for an MoT, or you have no money at all and are running an un-serviced, black-smoke emitting basket case - in which case, you should certainly be paying for an MoT! Then there are the government computers - millions of pounds wasted over the years and none of them can talk to each other. How many times do we have to give our details to government departments - I feel so much like saying, "but you already know how old I am, where I live, my ethnicity, my age etc..." I just wonder how many people get missed by the census, for example. And no one knows anyway who exactly is in the country, - or even how many people. The Border Force may check inbound passengers, but, apparently, they don't record those leaving... really? Can that really be true? It's mind-boggling. Why don't you need to take your voting card with you to the polling station (place in Scotland - ack to Big S) What's the point of sending one if you don't need it? Why is it so easy to get a postal vote? Really, I am sure they are far better organised in countries with considerably less sophistication than ours. And talking of which, some years ago I was serving in Africa with the UN. We all had Toyota Land Cruisers and Nissan Patrols - there was a lovely story of one fairly senior chap on loan to the UN who decided to take his home with him. He slipped it into a container and off it went - It could be seen in his home town for quite a while thereafter as he had forgotten to remove the large black UN marking on the roof of his white car! Oh, and 70 years after the National Health Service was set up, it is almost impossible to get on a dentist's list as an NHS patient - only private - at significantly higher cost. Our local Health Board have just sent out letters to the over 80s inviting them for a Covid booster jab. They have been allocated slots at a number of venues, seemingly chosen at random and some miles from where they live. Following complaints about the choice of venue the Health Board responded on social media (hugely popular, of course, with the over 80s,) "OK, well, just turn up to whichever one you want and bring the letter with you" - there'll be chaos1 I'm rambling now - must be time for bed.
