"Sharia taxi driver told me i was disgustingly dressed" says actress.

[HelenaDove]

It apparently happened after an awards ceremony.

www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-3331164/Sharia-taxi-driver-told-disgustingly-dressed-BBC-star-Frances-Barber-tells-accosted-Uber-employee-showbusiness-awards-ceremony.html

As an earlier poster has pointed out sometimes it's safer to walk than to get a cab, certainly in the area I live in. Before the terrible things in Rotherham came to light it was common knowledge not to use a cab by particular firms and not to let your daughters go into a few particular shops. Having had to learn some of it myself I can believe that it could have happened.

Not trying to be an apologist for the taxi driver, but from the few details in the article, it sounds like he was a twat, not a 'sharia' taxi driver. How could she tell what his motives were for his unacceptable comment?

Regardless of the motivation, comments like that are not on, but unless there is more to what happened than is mentioned in the article you can't be sure the driver was Muslim, let alone that his comments were religiously motivated.

I had something like this getting a taxi home from Chester.

He was rude about my clothes then tried it on. It was foul.

I don't think that the sex abuse of children was religiously motivated either. Doesn't mean that race or religion didn't play a part in it happening.

Without commenting on what the driver did say/didn't say/actually said, etc. I really think it is a shame that she used an Uber car. They are going to kill off the black cabs which I think is a real shame.

Some of the people on this thread are disgusting. Why are you doubting the story of a woman who claims to have had a nasty encounter with a mini cab driver?

Why do you find it relevant to comment on the fact that she may have been drink or the state of her career?

may have been drinking

Agree with limited victim blaming much- what difference does it make if she'd been drinking/ type of taxi she used?!

"Findo I have no idea what you're saying. It sounds suspiciously like bollocks to me."

You drew a ridiculous conclusion from what I was saying...so I drew a ridiculous conclusion from what you were saying. Hope that helps to clear it up for you.

The taxi driver sounds like a twat, and I have no reason to doubt Barber's story. I do have misgivings about the words she used and I am worried about the fact that all the right wing hate rags are going to pick it up and run with it, in an climate where anti-Muslim feeling is already running high.

Black cabs aren't easy to track if you need to do it after the event
I can't afford them and they don't come this far any way, if anyone can rec women driver cab firms, I'd be grateful
As for Ms Barber, I like her a lot but the chances of the DM misrepresenting are always high....

I am worried about the fact that all the right wing hate rags are going to pick it up and run with it, in an climate where anti-Muslim feeling is already running high.

Women! Take responsibility for other people's actions! Come on, love, you know it's your job!

It's in the Telegraph though
www.telegraph.co.uk/news/celebritynews/12013181/Frances-Barber-rages-at-sharia-taxi-driver-who-disapproved-of-her-dress.html

I have only ever used black cabs in London. For a while I used to use hem daily, (single, no car, job and social life!). Now it is less frequent.

Over a period of 33 years I have never had a problem. Drivers polite, know where they are going, professional.

Minicabs worry me unless I know the company and pre-book. Mini-cab companies frequently employ drivers who don't know the area, don't speak English and can't drive, (ie use phones at the wheel, don't wear seatbelts, speed)

Women! Take responsibility for other people's actions! Come on, love, you know it's your job!

As for Ms Barber, I like her a lot but the chances of the DM misrepresenting are always high...

The DM aren't writing her twitter feed lorelei (as far as we know )

I've also unfortunately encountered similar men in taxis- very similar

lorelei9 Telegraph report has a bit more info thanks for link. So DM didn't make it up.

If he hadn't been Muslim she might not have tweeted it or papers might not have run the story however they have and we do need to think about the impact of one culture on another. It shouldn't be denied just because it doesn't suit an agenda.

I am not surprised either. Haven't read the thread so I don't know other people's experiences, but when I was only about 27 I took a taxi really early in the morning to Gatwick to meet a friend who was flying from Boston to Dublin and stopping at Gatwick. We had breakfast together. So innocent! a female friend, and breakfast, no alcohol. The whole way to the airport he went on about what a problem it was that women went out and women drank and what women wore and blah blah blah............. I had never come across such misogyny in my life and it confused and upset me. I hadn't been in London that long. I'd met sexist oafs of course but nothing in this league. It made me angry.

bimandbam, I am short, and I was young during the period it was going on and looked even younger, which is possibly why I had problems. I do actually know one of the victims, and she came from a respectable, professional family and wasn't in care. Well, she wasn't until the people abusing her encouraged her to make false allegations (which she later retracted) against her family, so she did go into care and thus became an easier target.

It's depressing, because when all that was happening ordinary people did try and speak out about it, particularly online, and a lot of the responses were similar to those on here, it wasn't true, it was racism, it shouldn't be discussed because preventing racism was more important than girl's being assaulted, the girls concerned were drunk and shouldn't be listened to. It sad that after everything that happened some people with the same attitudes are just as vocal.

No, I saw her Twitter feed but I was just saying...I didn't even look at the DM link.

Bit puzzled why people are taking the mick out of the poster who expressed concern about anti Muslim sentiment, she might be Muslim, she might be like me and have the wrong skin colour and get asked if she is Muslim...or sometimes people assume. She might have Muslim friends or family she's worried about.

ps, and I was so determined not to be the ''racist'' tipp-ex white irish girl fresh off the boat that I sat there quietly tolerating his 'culture' and nodding..... fgs. Makes me cross now. I should have got out of the taxi and flagged down another.

Btw for avoidance of doubt, I'd have done the same as Frances did, I would seriously lose my rag with a git like that.

I've just had a look at a full length photograph. The dress is thin and tight across her chest. Not that what she was wearing should have any bearing on what was said to her or whether or not she should be believed.

limited totally agree. Some of these posts just stop short of saying "she was asking for it".

Oh, so Lorelei, you think that women should stay silent about sexist behaviour if the person doing it is a Muslim? That is exactly the sort of attitude that led to thousands of girls being abused in Rotherham. She might be Muslim, she might be worried about other Muslims, that doesn't give her the right to gag other people.

Incidentally, given what's been happening over the last week or so I think anybody who is likely to have anti-Islamic feeling will be able to find plenty of things which they think justify those feelings without having to look at an actresses tweets.

Or is it just that we believe victims of sexual abuse and intimidation unless there is something politically inconvenient about the apparent ethnicity/religion/culture (or status/wealth/connections) of the perpetrator?

Women! Take responsibility for other people's actions! Come on, love, you know it's your job!

This and this.