Having read this i clicked on the link provided in the article and well April 2005 Google UK Beta? I think you will find that Google maps UK has been out of Beta for some time now.

Dear Mike,

Tagging politicians is an utterly unnecessary expense. Just head for the nearest source of incandescent, infra-red and there you'll find them pouring out volumes of hot air !! Perhaps they should be harnessed as a source of renewable resource energy and just elect new ones when they run out !!