[ 2014-10-23 ]

Minicab passengers ask for white drivers after grooming scandal
A minicab company in Rochdale has revealed that it
is sending out white drivers on request from
passengers after the town’s grooming scandal and
the recent beheadings by Islamic State.
Stephen Campbell, manager of Car 2000, said that
customers requesting a taxi had been asking for
“local” — meaning white — drivers.
He said there had been a rise in such requests
after May 2012, when nine men who ran a child
sexual exploitation ring in the town were jailed.
Two were taxi drivers of Pakistani origin with a
local operator.
Further requests have been made after recent
coverage of Islamic State and its beheading of
western hostages, including the Manchester cab
driver Alan Henning. Mr Campbell said: “We
don’t promote anything like this, but if you
ring up and say, ‘Can I have a white driver?’
we will provide one. We are ­offering a service.
“Initially, back in 2012, the number of people
asking for white drivers went up, then it went
back down. It has gone up again a bit since this
coverage of [Islamic State]. I think people are
being programmed by what they watch on the news.
“They ask for ‘local’ drivers and by that
they mean white. The ridiculous thing is all my
drivers are local — they were all born here.”
Mark Widdup, the director of economy and
environment at Rochdale council, initially said
that the taxi ­company was not in breach of its
­licence. Yesterday, however, he said that legal
­advice was being sought and that the council
would “act accordingly”, ­adding: “Any
private hire business must satisfy a ‘fit and
proper’ test before they are ­licensed by the
council and able to operate within the
borough.”
Simon Danczuk, MP for Rochdale, said: “This
story is not unique to Rochdale, but it is a
worrying sign of some of the tensions that still
exist in the wake of the grooming scandal.”
The Equalities and Human Rights Commission said
last night: “While the law doesn’t prevent
customers making requests, it is unlawful for an
employer to treat an employee less ­favourably
because of the colour of their skin.”
The commission said that it would write to the
taxi operator and the council to establish the
facts of the case and to ensure that both
“understand their legal responsibilities”.
Mr Campbell said: “I would very much like to be
told it is illegal and therefore I’ll stop doing
it. But I will lose customers who will go to firms
that only employ white drivers.”

Source - The Times(UK)

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