Fairly predictable stuff from Katie Lam MP
She's been good on the grooming gang stuff etc (and is tipped by some as the next Mrs Thatcher
), but this is maybe a tad ill-informed - for example, she seems to think the funeral/wedding car exemptions are up to the local council.
And distinguishes this from 'for-profit' taxi services, while of course the service is effectively 'for-profit', because he's doing it to bring in punters, as indeed her piece makes clear (and the charity thing is a total red herring in that regard).
A wee bit of a giveaway is often the term 'private car hire' rather than 'private hire car' which maybe displays scant appreciation of the relevant law.
But the biggest irony is in fact something I meant to mention a few months ago - she's listed as a member of the House of Commons TransComm, yet I haven't seen her in any of the evidence sessions. Given that she's successfully made a bit of an impact with the rape gangs, you'd have thought the taxi investigation would be right up her street
https://committees.parliament.uk/commit ... embership/OPINION: MP Katie Lam on Ashford council’s handling of taxi fundraiser at Flying Horse, Smardenhttps://www.kentonline.co.uk/weald/news ... es-337128/Last week, it was reported that The Flying Horse in Smarden had been told by Ashford council that it can no longer offer free rides home to its customers when they’ve had a drink, because it doesn’t have the right kind of licence.Since November, the pub has offered customers a ride home in the landlord’s cab, asking nothing but an optional donation to the Motor Neurone Disease Association.
The idea came together after one of the pub’s own regulars was diagnosed with the disease.
Over the past few months, they’ve helped around 100 customers to get home safely, and raised £700 for the charity. It was a rare example of a win-win set-up.
Yet after an article published in KentOnline, Ashford council got in touch to tell The Flying Horse they can no longer run the scheme.
According to them, to offer that service, the pub needs a private car hire licence.
That’s despite the fact the pub makes no money out of this, is giving all of the proceeds to charity, and is only offering this service in order to allow people to access their services safely.
As the licensing authority, it’s up to Ashford council to decide who needs a licence, and under what conditions they can get one.
It’s hugely important that, when people are operating a for-profit taxi service, we know who they are and that they’re unlikely to pose a risk to the people that they’re driving around.
As we’ve seen in many of the horrific stories about grooming gangs across the country, taxi drivers can do real harm to people in vulnerable positions.
But in a statement they put out, they accepted there were already exemptions to the usual rules, for things like wedding cars and funeral cars.
Why not apply the same policy to charitable initiatives which benefit everybody? In this case, none of the same risks apply.
Unfortunately, as anybody that’s tried to run a business, set up a club, or host an event for the community will know, this is an attitude that we see everywhere.
Rules are so often applied without any sense of context or proportionality. Even when the motivation behind those rules is noble, the result is that win-win initiatives like this one get crushed.
The kind of community we enjoy in the Weald can’t be built with a one-size-fits-all approach, or by piling red tape on people who are trying to do the right thing.
It’s particularly galling when, far too often, local councils fail to enforce the rules against those who really are breaking the rules – in cases of fly-tipping, for example, or illegal encampments.
A system which punishes the fundamentally law-abiding while ignoring the law-breakers is a broken system.
We see this in so many areas of life today – whether that’s the police arresting people for posts that they make online, or the tax system, which takes money from the hardworking to pay for those who don’t work.
It’s time that we started rewarding people for doing the right thing, rather than smothering them with more rules.
If you, like me, think that this decision was ludicrous, then please consider donating to the Motor Neurone Disease Association yourself, or giving the Flying Horse a visit. It’s a fantastic pub.
Login
Register
FAQ
