Taxi Driver Online

Here's a man after my own heart simply because he realises that mid nineteenth century legislation for Taxis is inappropriate and that councillors are out of touch with reality and are not best placed to determine certain licensing matters.

Whether or not you are a Mary Whitehouse is another matter but we do have an Advertising Standards agency to rule on the suitability of adverts.
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Birmingham Post

October 18, 2007, Thursday

Indecent haste;

Anyone chancing upon a copy of the licensing conditions for Birmingham taxis could be mistaken for assuming they had mistakenly stepped into a time machine and been transported back to a prudish Britain circa 1950.

Consider this gem: "No advertisement shall be displayed upon the interior or exterior of a hackney carriage vehicle which contains, promotes or involves drugs, alcoholic drinks, politics, nudity (partial or otherwise) or sex (including products associated with birth control) without the permission of the city council."

With the exception of restrictions on drugs and, to a certain extent, nudity and sex, the list is hopelessly out of touch with society today. Why on earth should taxis not advertise birth control, given Birmingham's unwanted position as a city where teenage pregnancies are well above national averages? As for politics and drink, taxis must be one of the last places where such items cannot be advertised.

And why should adverts for high street outlets, such as the lingerie chain Agent Provocateur, not be permitted, provided they do not infringe public decency - which the design before the committee clearly did not. After all, posters featuring products from the shop have been appearing on hoardings in Birmingham for a while now without provoking outrage among passers-by, as have equally striking advertisements for gentlemen's clubs.

By dismissing as "fetish wear" items such as skimpy undies, Basques, boots and stilettoes, members of the city council Licensing Committee made themselves appear old fashioned and more than a little foolish.

Quite apart from getting it so wrong, should it actually be the job of the council to waste public money by pronouncing on taxi advertising? It is difficult to imagine that the Council House has been submerged by complaints about pictures of lingerie; equally isn't it the case that councillors have more important things to do than pronounce on alleged fetishism?
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