Whipping boy - it wasnt an entirely serious comment.
However, given that mode S is partly being promoted as a safety enhancement and will eventually be mandatory (so it would seem, although I appreciate the debate taking place on exactly when), it would not seem entirely unreasonable that the national authority would dispense with the minor mod fee (but see my previous post) particularly when many of us are having to remove perfectly serviceable units.
On this issue it would also be interesting to know whether any untis in the UK have mode S capability and if not when they expect to have this capability. I have to say I was surprised to find that neither Gatwick, Farnborough or Heathrow admitt to having mode S.