Amid the myriad conspiracy theories swirling around last month when Harry and Meghan withdrew their children from an Oxfordshire prep school after a mere two days, there is one that has not been sufficiently priced in. If the school itself was based in North Oxford – as has been rumoured – then Hal ‘n’ Megs would have first fallen foul of the congestion charge that has been half-heartedly implemented in the city, and, as of 28 September, the deadly traffic filters. These have been rumoured for years but, only now have they finally reared their ugly heads. Their advent was delayed because of a similar piece of appalling town planning – the years-long closure of the Botley Road, Oxford’s main artery to the west – but now they have finally arrived.

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They are, to put it mildly, unpopular. Part of the reason for their lack of favour is that it would take an All Souls fellow to understand the whys and wherefores of what on earth is going on. The initiative can be summarised briefly as several major streets in Oxford being closed to most traffic from 7am to 7pm every day, but there are 20 different forms of exception of exemption, which include everyone from the disabled to various blue light workers.

However, the vagaries of the scheme swiftly become yet more complex when........

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