The BBC isn't taxpayer funded. Everyone in Britain who has a television pays for it, but they all pay the same amount, unlike tax.

Its just an unfair tax! Other taxes that are like it include Vehicle Excise Duty and the infamous poll tax. If the Government makes you pay money by law, its a tax.

I happen to think that an independently (ish) funded BBC is a (largely) good idea, but the cost does fall disproportionately on the poorest in UK society...

Nthing the grumbles about the US-only nature of the competition. Yet another website that doesn't seem to care about the 95% of the earth's population that lives outside the US... Depressingly short-sighted. Instead of giving themselves positive publicity, Tor just manages to irritate loads of potential users.

they're not real cops, but deputied volunteers who fancy themselves real ones

I think you're confusing PCSOs with special constables. The latter are volunteers who carry out policing in their spare time for no pay (which many people think is a great community-minded thing to do). They have the same training, equipment and powers as normal police officers. They're kind of like the Territorial Army or National Guard, but police rather than soldiers.

These goons were PCSOs - a kind of cut rate police, or upscale traffic warden, invented by the Government as a cheap alternative to putting more real police officers on the street. They have only a very limited amount of training and less rigorous selection, but have no powers of arrest...

Hmm - dubious legality here. Firstly everyone has a right under the Data Protection Act to request copies of records held about them - which would encompass this, and to have inaccuracies corrected.

Secondly, any unproven accusation of illegality would open up the potential for a defamation case - which could carry quite a significant pay out if someone lost a job as a result. The only effective defence would be for the register to be able to prove the claims it makes - not easy without a criminal conviction!

Given that a lot of big UK firms won't even give references anymore for fear of litigation, I can't believe they'll want to contribute to something like this, or that anyone would want to insure them...

How sad! I ate in their when I was younger - although I never had the cohones to try Curry Hell, however anything which could defeat legions of drunken Geordies is frankly terrifying. I did have a friend who had a genetic immunity to capsaicin who finished one - he didn't really understand what the fuss was about...