Back to our hapless Foreign Secretary David Lammy, who has found himself embroiled in a new war of words. No, not with Sergey Lavrov or president Xi – this time, it’s with a French cab driver. Zut alors!
Sources close to the Foreign Office denied Lammy had been aggressive in any way
Lammy got into a dispute with Nasin Mumin after the taxi driver charged the Foreign Secretary and his wife Nicola Green an additional fee of €700 (£590) for a 360-mile trip from Forli in Italy, where the King made a state visit, to Flaine in France, where the couple were holidaying.
Mumin alleges the couple’s entourage had agreed to pay the extra money (on top of the €850 (£720) that had already been paid), because Lammy was a higher-risk client. He has branded Lammy a ‘liar’ and a ‘thief’ after the Foreign Secretary refused to cough up.
For his part, the Foreign Secretary has quite a different story. Lammy and Green have claimed that the cabbie demanded more money at their destination, despite agreeing that the fee had been paid in full on starting their journey. It is also claimed that while the taxi driver demanded more cash, he opened a compartment in the car to reveal a knife to Lammy’s wife. Sources close to the Foreign Office denied Lammy had been aggressive in any way, with the department adding:
‘We totally refute these allegations. The fare was paid in full. The Foreign Secretary and his wife are named as victims in this matter and the driver has been charged with theft. As there is an ongoing legal process, it would be inappropriate to comment further.’
Mumin, who has since been fired by GetTransfer and charged with stealing luggage and cash from Lammy and Green, admitted he drove off with the Lammys’ luggage after the pair got out of the taxi, but says he phoned the Swiss police afterwards and passed over his details. The driver – who alleged the Foreign Secretary became aggressive over his fee demands and ‘hit me in the neck’ – also insisted he had returned all the couple’s belongings ‘of his own accord’. He added: ‘If you carry a minister, there are all sorts of protocols to follow, including informing the French embassy in Rome and even having a security agent in the car. That’s why when I found out who it was in Italy, I demanded the extra fee and his entourage agreed it would be paid.’
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