Taxi Driver Online

Certainly an unusual case

All very secret squirrel, though.

And no detail of what was actually said - I mean, racism and misogyny can mean just about anything

I've seen a former licensing committee member online, for example, play the 'misogyny' card just because someone disagrees with her, essentially

(And maybe I'd be called a 'misognyist' because I can never spell the word without using the spellchecker )


Former police officer granted taxi licence after leaving force for 'racist and misogynistic' comments

https://www.cambridge-news.co.uk/news/l ... i-34681026

South Cambridgeshire District Council granted a licence to the former officer who had been with the police for nearly two decades

A former police officer has been granted a licence to drive a taxi after leaving the force for making racist and misogynistic comments. South Cambridgeshire District Council’s licensing review panel made the decision, but said they wanted to “make clear” that “racism and misogyny are completely unacceptable and reprehensible”.

They said: “Individuals licensed by the council are expected to treat all members of the public with dignity and respect, and discrimination will not be accepted”.

The press and public were excluded from the meeting, and the driver has not been named, but the minutes detailing the panel’s decision have now been released. The driver told the panel the incident happened in a “social environment” where they felt they were “in the company of people they considered as friends and family”.

They assured the panel they “would not engage in that type of conversation” with passengers “they did not know well or with whom they didn’t have a close relationship.”

The panel accepted that it was a “one-off incident and not repeated” and said that the driver had demonstrated “a level of remorse”. They also accepted the driver had worked for 17 years in the police “including within multi-ethnic communities” with “no other racial or misogynistic complaints made against them”.

They said they believed the driver was being “credible” and encouraged them to engage with mental health services. The panel said that “after careful consideration” they decided on the balance of probabilities that the driver is “a fit and proper person to hold a private hire driver licence”.

Well that's OK, then

It's obviously OK if you only say these things to the right people

I mean, let's not get po-faced about all this. We all say things in private we wouldn't say to complete strangers, particularly when they're one of your passengers

But seems a slightly strange approach for a licensing committee to take.


Again, very odd - they grant a badge to someone they think needs to 'engage with mental health services'

Also interesting is the use of the words 'they' and 'them' (as highlighted in the two quotes above) where you'd expect the words 'he' and 'him' to be used...

So maybe the applicant was a woman, but it's not thought appropriate to draw attention to that fact?

Or maybe some sort of trans thing?

Probably neither. But does seem a bit odd, as does the whole thing

(Of course, back in the day it would be 'former policeman' or 'former WPC', so then it would be more obvious )