Rather than write something myself about the discrimination by Transport for London making private hire drivers pay the London congestion charge to accompany some of my pictures from the protest by them at the start of April, I’ve decided to quote some of the statement made last week about their High Court case which begins today:
The Independent Workers Union of Great Britain (IWGB) will be arguing at the High Court on 10 and 11 July that Mayor of London Sadiq Khan’s decision to introduce a congestion charge on minicabs discriminates against and breaches the human rights of a mainly BAME workforce.
The IWGB is seeking a judicial review of Khan’s decision to introduce the £11.50 charge on the grounds that it is a case of indirect discrimination under the Equality Act. The charge is being imposed on a workforce that is mainly BAME (94% of London’s 107,000 minicab drivers are BAME according to TFL), while black cab drivers, who are mostly white, continue to be exempt.
This policy is also in breach of a number of articles of the European Convention on Human Rights that cover discrimination, property rights, right to a family life and ability to carry out a profession.
The IWGB has assembled a legal team which includes renowned discrimination barristers Ben Collins QC,Nadia Motraghi and Tara O’Halloran of Old Square Chambers, and TMP Solicitors founding partner Jacqueline McGuigan.
The IWGB has proposed a number of alternatives to this policy, including a cap on the total number minicab driver licenses, a levy on minicab operators such as Uber and Viavan, and the enforcement of worker rights by Transport for London (TfL).
Discrimination also runs throughout London’s enforcement regime. The most recent figures released by TfL show minicabs are almost three times as likely to be stopped by enforcement officers as black cabs, despite the fact that TfL’s own statistics show that on average minicabs are more compliant than black cabs.
You can read the rest of this statement, including quotes from some of the drivers on the IWGB web site: London congestion charge discrimination claim to be heard at the High Court 10 & 11 July
More of my pictures from the April 4th protest at Private hire drivers protest congestion charge.
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Tags: BAME, black cabs, discrimination, drivers, equality act, IWGB, private hire, Sadiq Khan, TfL, UPHD