Northwich Taxi driver wins fight for slogan
A NORTHWICH Hackney Cab driver has won the fight to put a patriotic sign back on his vehicle.
Former serviceman John Woodward, of JJ’s Taxis in Winnington, was left upset when Cheshire West and Chester Council asked him to remove the phrase ‘British by birth, English by the grace of God,’ from his black Renault Trafic.
The council received three separate complaints saying the sign was of a racist nature and said it needed to be removed because John had not applied for permission to have it on the cab.
But the Winnington resident, who served in the Gulf War, has now put the phrase back on his vehicle, after being told he does not need council approval for it after all.
“I think it is a storm in a tea cup and that’s what I have said all along,” he said.
“To my mind, it is just a win for common sense and it is a bit of good news.
“And I do think it’s a good thing in light of everything else that is happening – the country is changing and people are starting to want to be proud of it.”
And to quash any rumours of racism, John revealed the background to his patriotism.
“I was actually born in Iserlohn in West Germany,” he said.
“My father was a member of the British forces out there and I was born there, under the British flag on British soil.
“So the wording is absolutely personal to me, that is how proud I am and why I have gone to these lengths.
“It is a statement of fact.”
A spokesman for the council said that although John did not need council approval for the sign under Vale Royal Hackney Carriage Vehicle Licensing conditions, it would urge him to reconsider displaying it, because of its connections with the British National Party.
“Certainly our investigations showed that the slogan is associated with the BNP and appears on goods advertised for sale on the BNP website,” said the spokesman.
“Mr Woodward has assured us that he does not wish to offend anyone and that the slogan is only a sign of pride in his own country.
“However, he must realise that someone coming from a different part of Britain, who perhaps had also fought for his country and was equally proud of his heritage, could potentially find a slogan offensive which inferred that he was in any way inferior to an Englishman or woman.”
John added: “I am not aware of any of the British National Party links and I am certainly not a member of the BNP and never have been.”
http://www.northwichguardian.co.uk/news/8686125.Taxi_driver_wins_fight_for_slogan/
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