http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/newstopics/mps-expenses/conservative-mps-expenses/11760523/John-Bercows-172-taxi-ride-vs-walking-Which-one-was-quicker.html

 

I wonder if he has a health club membership, and how much that costs in central London? 

 

And... the cost of that "£172" journey to someone not on the public gravy train:

 

Scroll down the Torygraph article for the actual route.

Some tourists got on a rickshaw last week,from one end of Oxford St to the other & were charged £208 the old bill couldn't do

Anything as they aren't licensed. I'd give them a piggyback for that much

Stiffing Johnny Foreigner's cab fares in London is as old as the hills.  Those with long memories will recall me mentioning whilst as a student I used to drive a minicab in London at night ... the earnings helped pay for my debauched lifestyle.  Anyway, I once got a job to pick-up a fare from a pub in SE London;  I parked up, went inside and asked the barman who the punter was who wanted a cab ... he pointed out four guys who turned out to be Vietnamese sailors off a ship docked nearby on the Thames.  I asked where they wanted to go and in a mixture of very broken English, Pigeon, and sign language (a bit like out a scene from a Yankee Vietnam war movie ... you know, where the bar girl askes the GI, "Hey Joe, you wanna jigajig",  and they said, "Soho, lorra lorra girls".  So off we went and dropped them off in Beak Street, then part of the Red light district.  The fare should have been £5 but I charged them £5 each,  and I got a tip.  Kept me in weed and booze for a week!