Asylum seekers will be banned from taking taxis for medical appointments. It comes after a BBC investigation found some people had travelled long distances by taxis or minicabs, with one asylum seeker saying they went on a 250-mile cab journey to a GP, costing the Home Office £600.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cgjn2y4eed5o

Posted by Make_the_music_stop

12 comments

  1. Won’t be popular on this sub, but it does look like when silly things like this come to light, this government is doing something about it, unlike the Tories, happy to see their mates make a handsome profit from the asylum seeker situation.

  2. It’s interesting to note

    “Another taxi driver… claimed firms would purposely increase the mileage on trips by dispatching drivers to another distant town to carry out short journeys.”

    “…on one occasion he was sent from Gatwick Airport to Reading – a round trip of about 110 miles (175km) and costing more than £100 – to take an asylum seeker from their hotel to a dentist appointment which was 1.5 miles away.”

  3. ‘From February’

    lol, the adults are still not in charge. The day after a gunman attacks two US guards Trump immediately cancels all visas to Afghanistan; on a nation holiday no less.

    Just stop it today and tell them to get the bus, no one chaperones me to my appointments. Why the fuck am I paying for them then?

  4. You mean costing the tax payers. Didn’t cost home office a fucking penny

  6. Now is this asylum seekers taking the piss or taxi drivers being money-hungry scumbags?

    I’m leaning towards the latter after working for a cab firm for 3 years. I’m not saying all taxi drivers are scum but I have met quite a few scum drivers.

  10. Worth pointing out when the BBC originally investigated this they literally had interviews with asylum seekers who said this was insane and they didn’t want it. The guy with the 250 gp journey has both begged to be allowed to see a nearer GP and just to be given a bus or train ticket.

  11. Imagine you have to go to an appointment somewhere 250 miles away. Why the hell would you use a taxi? Was this person stupid, or just a grifter who feels no guilt about leeching off taxpayers?

  12. Why are asylum seekers being given appointments 250 miles away from where they reside? How are they supposed to attend these appointments if they cannot get a taxi?

    To those who will inevitably say “they should learn English and use public transport” – there are literally protests going on against people trying to learn the language.

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