BNP man demands apology from taxi association chief

A councillor whose appointment to the taxi licensing panel last year caused uproar has demanded an apology from protesters.

Heckmondwike BNP councillor David Exley said he had now served more than 12 months on the committee and had dealt with every case fairly.

When he was appointed, Akooji Badat, joint chairman of the Kirklees Hackney Carriage Association, said taxi drivers were unhappy with a BNP councillor on the panel, as most drivers were Asian. But now, more than a year on, Coun Exley said he had proved himself to be fair to everyone and said Mr Badat should take his comments back.

"I said at the time that people should judge me on my record," said Coun Exley. "I feel that over the last 12 months I have done my job properly and been fair. I'm sure if I hadn't everyone would have heard about it by now. In my opinion Mr Badat jumped on the bandwagon and it is only right that he now withdraws his original comments."

But Mr Badat said he still did not think it was right for someone who represented a party with racist policies to be on the licensing panel for taxi drivers when 97 or 98 per cent of drivers were from an Asian ethnic minority. He said he had complained to Kirklees recently because he felt more drivers were now being turned down for licences. And he said that although there were 15 elected members on the regulatory panel, Asian councillors rarely got the chance to sit at meetings, but he claimed Coun Exley was always selected.

Coun Exley said the panel always tried to find the best person to do the job, regardless of their ethnic background. He said members now had more background information on drivers because more thorough Criminal Records Bureau (CRB) checks were carried out.

"I have had people before me who have convictions for carrying guns or knives or for drugs offences and no one would want them to be taxi drivers," said Coun Exley. "We have to make an informed decision from the information we are given. It is never made on religion or the colour of their skin. We've had lots of white people who have had their licences taken off them or not given, but the majority of applicants are Asian so more will get turned down."

Coun Exley said more thorough CRB checks meant some drivers who had been given licences in the past were now being turned down because of information that was not available to the panel when their licence was granted. And he said councillors who were chosen to sit at meetings were usually the first ones to say they were available to attend the meetings as places were allocated on a first come, first served basis.

Spenborough Guardian

Note: This is the same David Exley who managed to sit through an entire six-hour budget meeting, along with two BNP colleagues on Kirklees Council, and said absolutely nothing.