UK: Muslim taxi drivers threaten to go on strike over policy they claim is ‘pure racism’ against Muslims

Taxi drivers in Kirklees are threatening to go on strike over a policy which they deem to be “pure racism” because they view it as targeting Muslims.

Using extreme language designed to give their false allegations of racism more force, they are claiming that a “fitness and suitability” policy that Kirklees council instituted in 2019 in order to ensure the safety of the public while using taxis constituted “apartheid.” The policy states that “a licence holder must be ‘a fit and proper person’ and that a judgement is made following a detailed examination of their entire character to determine their fitness and suitability.”

All sounds reasonable, no? Not to many Muslims. Since some Muslims consider themselves to be above the laws of the land that they settle in, they absolutely grind their heels in when asked to comply with anything the infidel might ask of them, whether it be to adhere to codes of conduct when driving taxis, respecting Britain’s age limit of 16 for marriage, or to dial back on their calls to prayer so that residents can go about their daily business uninterrupted with their daily business.

The Department for Transport says that taxis are a “high-risk environment” for members of the public to travel in: “In terms of risks to passengers, this can be seen in abuse and exploitation of children and vulnerable adults facilitated and, in some cases, perpetrated by the trade and the number of sexual crimes which involve taxi and private hire drivers.” Some Muslim men have also been known to allow members of their families or friends to drive their cars although they aren’t licensed to do so.

Taxi spokesman Akooji Bada asks the council: “Why are you just stereotyping taxi drivers as though they are some kind of sex predators? What happened in Rochdale and Rotherham has nothing to do with us.” This is an absolute lie when you consider the fact that taxi driver Imran Rashid Ahmed picked up a female in Huddersfield (Kirklees), raped her, and then dumped her in the town centre in July of last year. He has recently been sentenced to ten years in prison.   

The council are also saying that a driver will lose his license if he gets six or more points on it, and again Muslims aren’t happy about this. Akooji added: “The fact that you are going to lose your bread and butter if you get more than six points, that is just absolutely ridiculous, not to mention racist, given that the majority of the taxi drivers are from a particular community.” Why are there no expectations of adherence to standards here? If I hire a driver, I would expect him to be fully compliant with rules and regulations relating to the highway code, health and safety, and any other laws required of him and his vehicle. Good and conscientious drivers would not fear or object to having points put on their licenses, especially considering the kinds of things they’d need to get up to in order to get six points in the first place.

The kind of things that will get you six points on your license in the UK are driving while using your phone (up to six points), leaving the scene of an accident (five to ten points), driving an uninsured vehicle (six to eight points), driving while disqualified (six points), as well as a wide array of other offences that can see drivers collect anything from three to eleven points, including drunk driving, speeding, causing injury or death, and more. A police stop in Kirklees in 2019 saw eleven taxi drivers penalised. One had his license suspended and ten others had rectification notices served on them for vehicle defaults, all of which are hazardous to the public and other drivers, and not what we pay for when we hire a ride. With so much wrong with Kirklees taxis, how could anyone object to the requirement to meet standards of good service?

Akooji goes on to say: “Whether you call it indirect racism or institutional racism, I’ll leave that for others to work out. But that’s just not on, especially when you compare it to drivers in other trades.” By this he can only mean delivery drivers and long-haul truckers, but they’re not the demographic who are notorious for raping children, in spite of him also telling us that Muslims are being stereotyped as “sex predators”: Muslim men gave birth to the stereotype of the Muslim child rapist, it’s no one’s fault but their own.

Kirklees clearly has a problem with their taxi business, and it extends far beyond a driver being a “fit and proper person.” As far back as 2008, councillors have been calling for the multitude of unlicensed drivers to be taken off their streets. One girl died after having been picked up in an unlicensed car, mistaking it for a regular taxi, and then leaping from it into oncoming traffic on a motorway, as she feared she was about to be raped. I find it very suspicious that anyone would object to meeting any kind of standard required for them to perform their job. The fact that this is being opposed can only mean one of two things:

• All too many Muslims truly feel they are above the law.
• These men aren’t fit to do their jobs, and they would easily accrue six penalty points on their licenses. That being the case, campaigners are expecting the public to tolerate dangerous driving as part of the journey and experience of hiring a cab in Kirklees.

I would go with the latter. There is no racism on display here, unless it’s the “bigotry of low expectations” from Muslims yet again.