On Mar 21, 11:05 am, " wrote:
On Mar 21, 6:28?am, Roy Stilling wrote:





" wrote:
Here is the detail of the formal complaint I have lodged at the
Disability Rights Commission about Mr. Edwards: may I suggest others
who see the idiocy of his comments do likewise?

Seeing as the DRC is a government quango, not a charity or pressure
group, I was wondering whether his comments were legally appropriate
for such a body to make. ?If TfL are compliant with the law by
providing a fully accessible service, surely calling for the extra
heritage buses to be withdrawn simply because the DRC or perhaps this
one individual doesn't like them is making a political point and ought
not to be paid for by the taxpayer.

Marc, you're one of our learned friends aren't you? ?What do you
think? ?Perhaps a complaint to the DC's sponsoring department or to
the National Audit Office might be in order.

Roy

Roy,

You make a very interesting an valid point, about the
inappropriateness of someone speaking on behalf of an organisation and
thereby representing that organisation's view, as opposed to his own
personal views.

I shall enquire of the D.R.C. whether they have a policy on
Routemaster buses on heritage routes and, if so, what it is. If the
policy is either neutral or non-existent, then clearly Mr. Edwards has
gone beyond his remit, ought to be censured and/or disciplined by his
employers - even if only for omitting the words "speaking
personally....", and thus misrepresenting his employers in a public
forum.

I will keep this forum advised of any developments.

Marc.- Hide quoted text -

- Show quoted text -

Here is the reply received from the D.R.C. today, and my reply to it:-

"Dear Mr Maitland,



"Thank you for your email. The remarks attributed to Mr Edwards have
been taken out of context. The DRC is not calling for the removal of
all existing Routemasters. We are not killjoys or destroyers of
London's heritage.



"His main point, which has gone unreported, is that if we are serious
about promoting the inclusion of disabled people into all areas of
life (employment, social activities etc), then a prerequisite for that
is an accessible public transport system.



"Many disabled people have reported to us that the new fleet of London
buses has had a transforming effect on their lives, enabling them to
get out and about in a way that was impossible on the Routemaster
fleet. That is the kind of progress we want to see.



"Yours sincerely,





"Lisa Patel

"Secretariat Support Officer

"Disability Rights Commission

Tel: 020 7543 7053"



My reply:-

"Dear Miss Patel,

"Thank you for your reply.

"If what you state is correct, i.e. that your Commission is not
calling for the removal of all existing Routemasters and that you are
not "killjoys or destroyers of London's heritage", could you kindly
advise me what is meant by the following quote from Mr. Edwards:-

""We've stated to Transport for London that we're not happy about the
heritage routes".

"Moreover, the clear implication of his comment, "TfL are opening
themselves to legal action" because by 2017 all forms of
"inaccessible" public transport will be illegal, is that Routemasters
will have to be removed by that date and ought to be removed now. Why
else refer to something that may or may not be the case in ten years'
time?

"I should be grateful for a copy of your Commission's formal policy on
Routemaster buses on heritage routes in London.

"Looking forward to your reply,

"I remain,

"Yours sincerely,

"Marc Maitland.

"21st March 2007."