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Peterborough councillor Daisy launches CCTV petition
http://www.taxi-driver.co.uk/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?f=2&t=41497		 Page 1 of 1
Author:  StuartW [ Sat May 31, 2025 10:44 pm ]
Post subject:  Peterborough councillor Daisy launches CCTV petition
This is a BBC report, which strangely doesn't mention the petition, which I only picked up on via TaxiPoint's report :?


CCTV in taxis could make a 'real difference'

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/c706lnpylreo

CCTV in taxis would "make every journey safer" for drivers and passengers alike, according to a Peterborough councillor.

Daisy Blakemore-Creedon, who represents the Fletton and Woodston ward, is calling for CCTV cameras to be installed in taxis and private hire vehicles.

According to the latest government figures, only 8% of authorities in the UK have a requirement for all licensed taxis to have CCTV fitted, equating to 21 out of 266.

"CCTV can make a real difference," said the Independent councillor, who resigned from the Labour Group at the beginning of May.

"It deters bad behaviour, helps resolve disputes, and gives people more confidence to get home safely, especially late at night, Ms Blakemore-Creedon said.

"Drivers deserve that security too - many work alone, often in vulnerable situations.

"This is a simple, sensible step that would make a big impact. I believe we owe it to each other to make every journey safer."

In December Peterborough City Council voted against the CCTV plan, following strong opposition from many drivers.

Jake Carter, a hackney carriage driver in Peterborough, said he had mixed feelings about the proposal.

"My first thoughts were that it sounds like a sensible thing to do because you're putting extra safety and security in place," he said.

"But after speaking to some of the other drivers and thinking a bit more myself, I think the concerns are that the cost of this CCTV equipment has to be borne by the drivers.

"You can't just install the cheapest system, you've got to go with the one recommended by the council."

'Consider'

Mr Carter said there concerns too that the CCTV would have to remain on, even when drivers are using their taxis as their own private vehicles.

As reported by the Local Democracy Reporting Service, he also said there were already safety measures in place on hackney carriages, "which mitigate the risks".

"If it was to be worked a bit differently where a council took the cost and allowed drivers more flexibility about when the CCTV could be switched on or off, then it might be something the drivers would consider," he said.

"It should be sold as benefiting the drivers as much as benefitting the public."
Author:  StuartW [ Sat May 31, 2025 10:45 pm ]
Post subject:  Re: Peterborough councillor Daisy launches CCTV petition
This is the actual petition. Spot the clanger, even in the sub-title below the photo. And the photo itself :-o

And she's a licensing councillor? :-s


Mandatory CCTV in Taxis

Image

The Issue

Make CCTV Mandatory in All Mini Cabs

By Daisy Blakemore Creedon

I’m calling for CCTV to be made mandatory in all licensed taxis and private hire vehicles across the UK. This isn’t just a policy idea it’s something I feel strongly about, because it directly affects the safety of people like you and me.

At the moment, there’s no consistent rule. As of April 2024, only 8% of licensing authorities in England require CCTV in all taxis, and just 7% in private hire vehicles. That means most cab journeys happen without any form of video protection for either the driver or the passenger.

CCTV can make a real difference. It deters bad behaviour, helps resolve disputes, and gives people more confidence to get home safely, especially late at night. Drivers deserve that security too many work alone, often in vulnerable situations.

This is a simple, sensible step that would make a big impact. I believe we owe it to each other to make every journey safer.
Author:  Sussex [ Sun Jun 01, 2025 8:29 pm ]
Post subject:  Re: Peterborough councillor Daisy launches CCTV petition
Quote:
"It deters bad behaviour, helps resolve disputes, and gives people more confidence to get home safely, especially late at night, Ms Blakemore-Creedon said.

"Drivers deserve that security too - many work alone, often in vulnerable situations.

Blimey, I have a twin. :shock:
Author:  StuartW [ Fri Jul 11, 2025 5:35 pm ]
Post subject:  Re: Peterborough councillor Daisy launches CCTV petition
Councillor Daisy has an article on the Telegraph website :-o


I became Britain’s youngest councillor at 18. This is how Labour betrayed me

https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2025/0 ... -semitism/

Beneath the language of progressivism is a party still afraid to confront its own failings

When Keir Starmer suspended Jeremy Corbyn in 2020 over his response to the EHRC report, it felt like a step in the right direction. For those of us who had spent years hoping Labour would finally take anti-Semitism seriously, it offered a glimmer of hope that the party was changing.

I wanted to believe that the days of shrugging off racism, especially anti-Semitism, were behind us. That we were properly tackling the culture of bigotry that had been allowed to fester in our midst.

How wrong I was. Inside Labour, I came to learn that while the press statements had changed, the culture had not. I joined the party at 14. At 18, I became the UK’s youngest councillor. I believed Labour stood for justice, fairness and accountability. But, over time, I saw those values being traded in for vote counts and image management. Beneath the language of progressivism was a party still afraid to confront its own failings; a movement that prided itself on tolerance was still so intolerant.

In today’s Labour Party, even hinting at traditional values is enough to get you branded. Say something outside the orthodoxy, and suddenly you’re a bigot. You’re a problem. And no, I’m not denying there’s racism on the Right. Of course there is. But what people don’t talk about nearly enough is the racism that still exists on the Left. It hasn’t gone away. It’s just gotten better at hiding.

During my time with Labour, I learned very quickly that it doesn’t behave like a social justice movement. It operates like a mob. When I raised concerns about real safeguarding issues that affect vulnerable women and children, I was told to quieten down. “Think of the party.” “Protect our image.” That kind of thinking isn’t new. It’s exactly what allowed abuse to thrive in places like Rotherham. People stayed silent not out of ignorance, but out of fear.

When I proposed mandatory CCTV in private hire vehicles, something used by councils across the country, it should have been a straightforward policy. But it became a lightning rod. Not because of what I said, but because of who it might upset electorally. And then came the accusations. I was told, outrageously, that I was “targeting Asian Labour councillors.” That I was being racist.

Let me be very clear: I never once said, implied, or intended anything discriminatory. My only aim was public safety. But instead of engaging with the substance of what I said, members of my own party tried to discredit me.

Private messages show what was really going on. One councillor wrote, “We are now going to lose our councillors in Central, North and Park… All three wards are taxi driver heavy.” Another admitted I’d been “totally betrayed for votes.” Others said that I shouldn’t “have to put up with this kind of bullying.” But none of them said it publicly. I was left to face it alone. And then came the delays. The complaint I raised was shelved. Twice.

Sadly, this wasn’t the first time. I’ve heard anti-Semitic slurs in Labour spaces, and seen them go unchallenged. What about the things I didn’t hear? How deep does it go?

Everyone knows about Labour’s anti-Semitism scandal under Corbyn. But many assume it ended when the leadership changed. It didn’t. I still heard it in meetings. People who were suspended quietly returned. It wasn’t about justice, it was about allegiance. Anti-Semitism training didn’t fix this because the problem was never about ignorance. It was about willful avoidance.

The Forde Report talked about a “hierarchy of racism” inside Labour. They were right. Some forms of racism are dealt with. Others are ignored. The party wears inclusion like a badge, but that word means nothing if you won’t admit fault behind closed doors.

Since my resignation, Baroness Louise Casey’s national audit on group-based child sexual exploitation has vindicated those concerns. Her report explicitly highlights the crucial role of taxi CCTV and condemned authorities across the country for failing to act precisely on the issue I had raised locally. It noted that “taxis… facilitating exploitation” and lambasted the protection of image over safeguarding, stating that authorities had “looked the other way” and were deterred from acting by fears of being branded racist.

In other words, the Government has clinically confirmed what I and others have known: delaying or cancelling CCTV measures for fear of electoral consequences allows harm to continue unchecked.

Peterborough and, I might add, many other councils now have the opportunity to act on these findings. But that will require courage, transparency and genuine accountability rather than more whispers about “protecting the image” of the party. Labour said it had changed. My experience shows it hasn’t.
Author:  StuartW [ Fri Jul 11, 2025 5:36 pm ]
Post subject:  Re: Peterborough councillor Daisy launches CCTV petition
I think anyone reading that would assume CCTV is more prevalent than it is, and that Baroness Casey was more concrete about the benefits of CCTV than she was [-(

Had a quick look at the relevant DfT spreadsheet, though, and there seem to be more councils actually mandating it than I thought - slightly more than 20, on a quick count...(although the list will be more than one year old now).

And seems to be a particular preponderance of them in a certain part of the country - Adur, Mid-Sussex, Worthing, Brighton & Hove, Eastbourne and Lewes councils all mandate CCTV, apparently :-o
Author:  edders23 [ Fri Jul 11, 2025 7:03 pm ]
Post subject:  Re: Peterborough councillor Daisy launches CCTV petition
StuartW wrote:
I think anyone reading that would assume CCTV is more prevalent than it is, and that Baroness Casey was more concrete about the benefits of CCTV than she was [-(

Had a quick look at the relevant DfT spreadsheet, though, and there seem to be more councils actually mandating it than I thought - slightly more than 20, on a quick count...(although the list will be more than one year old now).

And seems to be a particular preponderance of them in a certain part of the country - Adur, Mid-Sussex, Worthing, Brighton & Hove, Eastbourne and Lewes councils all mandate CCTV, apparently :-o



I seem to remember one of the main suppliers to the trade who exhibited at the trade show was from Brighton but he wasn't interested in travelling to lincolnshire when I enquired but might explain why so may councils in that area have mandated.
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