Jacob Rees-Mogg’s attack on fixed penalty notices is too little, too late

What an heroic stand for freedom and justice Jacob Rees-Mogg has just made by criticising the system of Fixed Penalty Notices (FPNs). According to the Brexit Opportunities minister, the reason this form of summary justice “goes against British tradition” is that an FPN “assumes you are guilty until proven innocent because you have to go to court to get it set aside”.

It is not that I disagree with him – it’s just that I would have been rather more impressed had he made this point before police began to shower the Prime Minister and Downing Street staff with FPNs. The problems with FPNs and their civil cousins Penalty Charge Notices (PCNs) have been very clear for many years. They have unleashed a culture in which police, councils and other authorities of the state have been able to extract large sums of money from the public for very minor infringements of laws and bylaws – without any proper right to appeal.