Wednesday 21 January 2015

Yet More Special Pleading...

The incident drew criticism from Caroline Lucas, MP for Brighton Pavilion.
She said: “This is just the kind of anti-common sense example of a policy being taken too far.
“It beggars belief that a business would deem this sort of treatment of people acceptable and allow it to happen in the first place, let alone again.
“I trust that the store’s management will apologise immediately and train its staff appropriately in future to ensure this never happens again.”
Good lord! What happened?

Surely Caroline Lucas, of all people, wouldn't make a fuss over nothing?
Rosemary Frazer, campaigns manager at disability charity Scope, said: “Companies should have a clear and transparent policy on whether disabled people can use their accessible toilets for free.
“Disabled people often find town and city centres don’t meet their needs. As a wheelchair user I know it can be incredibly difficult to find accessible toilets.”
Wait...what?
Shaun Thorogood, 30, who has cerebral palsy, is the latest customer to tell The Argus they were refused entry to the loos at the Burger King restaurant in North Street, Brighton.
Ahhh, yes. The not-unreasonable demand from a business that only paying customers use it's facilities has been translated (by the usual suspects) into a demand that certain identity groups be considered privileged above all others.


6 comments:

Ed P said...

It's a pathetic attempt to make something out of a non-story. If they'd paid the pound requested, they would have been able to reclaim it when they bought some "food" afterwards.
But regardless of political leaning, we should all support Ms Lucas: every Green vote is one fewer for Milibland.

Barman said...

Don't the greens run Brighton...?

Surely it is their fault for not providing spacca accessible bogs in the town centre, no...?

Anonymous said...

The solution is simple - use the toilets in the council offices. Their use has already been paid for through taxes. Several ex military amputee and disabled colleagues do just this in towns they live in or visit and have done so for several years, with only one refusal (in a Labour constituency)
Penseivat

Anonymous said...

My local council has demolished the only public toilets in the town centre. If I need to go , the council offices is where I head.Woe betide any council officer who dares to stop me.

andy5759 said...

All of the old public bogs in St. Albans have been turned into chic eateries. The newcomers just love the ambience.

JuliaM said...

"If they'd paid the pound requested, they would have been able to reclaim it when they bought some "food" afterwards."

There's a lot of this going around - see today's 'Mail' for the 'disabled adults barred from Legoland' story.

Even if it's a policy that treats the disabled no differently to anyone else, it's challenged. Because what is wanted is special treatment.

"Don't the greens run Brighton...?"

Mostly into the ground!

"The solution is simple - use the toilets in the council offices. Their use has already been paid for through taxes."

Notice they never take part in the campaigns they run to get high street stores to open up their toilets to non-customers?