HC Deb 29 July 1908 vol 193 cc1489-90
MR. COOPER (Southwark, Bermondsey)

I beg to ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department whether his attention has been drawn to the fact that several motor cabs on the day of the Marathon race arrived at Windsor with six, and in one case eight, passengers; whether the police have made any report or taken any action in the matter; and, if not, whether this inactivity on the part of the police arose because the police were of opinion that in neither of these cases was there a case of serious overcrowding; and whether he has considered that the official refusal to carry out the terms upon which a cab licence is granted acts unfairly to other licensed drivers and deprives them of an opportunity of securing a fare.

MR. HERBERT SAMUEL

The Secretary of State's attention has not been drawn to the incidents mentioned and he does not know whether the Windsor police took any action. The Metropolitan police had not heard of them. The occasion was of course very exceptional; but the presence in a cab of six or eight passengers would certainly be regarded by the Metropolitan police as serious overcrowding. Every endeavour is made by the police to enforce the cab regulations impartially and with due regard both to the interests of cab drivers and to the public convenience.