more on the john prescott story, although it doesn't mention the subsequent
incident with the 4 police cars.
Driver Confronts High Government Official Over Improper Parking
By Dave Reynolds, Inclusion Daily Express
July 27, 2001
LONDON, ENGLAND--When Mark Bagley arrived at Mr. Chu's China Palace for
lunch earlier this week, he had trouble getting into a parking space
reserved for drivers with disabilities. A Jaguar limousine was parked with
two wheels in what is called the orange badge zone.
So Bagley, 41, wheeled into the restaurant and found that the culprit was
none other than Deputy Prime Minster John Prescott.
"I was very polite and said 'Sorry for disturbing your meal, Mr. Prescott,
but is that your Jaguar parked in the orange badge space?'," Bagley later
told the Mirror.
"He looked up, was equally polite and replied 'Yes it is'. I asked him if he
had an orange badge and that was when he said
'Would you like me to move it?' About a minute later, he got up and moved
the car."
"He was very co-operative but never apologized," Bagley said.
"This kind of thing happens every day to wheelchair users and it is so
annoying."
Douglas Campbell, of the Disabled Drivers' Association, was appalled. "It
defies belief that a minister of the crown could be so crass."
"I would not have been as polite as Mark Bagley," explained Campbell. "I'd
have blocked in Mr. Prescott's Jaguar, had my meal and let him know what he
feels like to be inconvenienced."
"Perhaps he should be strapped into a wheelchair for a day, get out and
about and see how difficult life can be."
Adrian Higginbotham,
SURFACE
Salford University, Research Focus on AcCessible Environments.
E-mail [log in to unmask]
tel: 0161-2954939
fax: 0161-2955011
web: http://www.scpm.salford.ac.uk/surface/
----- Original Message -----
From: Marcus Ormerod <[log in to unmask]>
To: <[log in to unmask]>
Sent: Saturday, July 28, 2001 7:54 AM
Subject: various items in the news
> Hi everyone thought the following items may well be of interest to those
on
> this list.
>
> In the Architect's Journal page 6 Margaret Hickish of Buro Happold's
Glasgow
> office gets a mention for being appointed as a member of the Royal Fine
Arts
> Commission for Scotland - well done Margaret.
>
> Page 7 has another item on the Chartered Institute of Building launching a
> package of free plain-English guides to lead potential clients through
every
> stage of the construction process, covering planning and regulations.
Copies
> are available from www.ciob.org.uk or telephone 01344 630765. I want to
> obtain these to see whether they are accessible and may help in advising
> people through the building process. Also it will be interesting to see
what
> emphasis, if any, they give to accessibility.
>
> Moving on to Friday's The Times (27 July 2001) page 5 has the news that
John
> Prescott managed to block an accessible parking bay outside his favourite
> Chinese restaurant in Hull. When you read further into the article it says
> that his car was intruding into the accessible space. Subsequently John
> Prescott and Tony Blair, along with a party of others, took over the same
> 500 seater establishment for the evening and the accessible bays were
taken
> up with four police vehicles.
>
> Page 10 of The Times reports on the legal case of a chartered surveyor who
> is facing a legal bill of 40,000 pounds sterling after a landmark ruling
> that could effect many other professionals. The surveyor provided a survey
> report in 1992 on a property whilst employed by a firm of surveyors. The
> advice was negligent as there were allegedly cracks in the building at the
> time of the survey. He left the firm of surveyors the next year, but in
1994
> the firm of surveyors went bankrupt. The owner of the property made a
claim
> for negligence in 1997. The surveyor was sued in his personal capacity
> because the firm's indemnity insurance had been cancelled by the trustee
in
> bankruptcy. The surveyor was not covered by any personal indemnity
insurance
> as he was a salaried employee and contended that he did not owe a personal
> duty of care to the house owner and that his only duty was to the firm. In
> 1999 the courts decided he should have noticed the cracks. Although the
RICS
> supported a campaign to the Court of Appeal and the Lords they have been
> unsuccessful.
>
> The outcome of the Merrett v Babb case means that those giving
professional
> advice such as accountants, solicitors, architects, access consultants,
> surveyors, etc could face the risk of personal liability claims if there
> employer ceases trading and there is not run off cover in the indemnity
> insurance, or if the company is underinsured whilst the company may still
be
> trading, or if the company is in dispute with the insurer. The difficulty
> however is that insurance companies are reluctant to provide indemnity
> insurance to employees who want cover for work done whilst employed by a
> company no longer trading because they cannot see the files or being able
to
> calculate the risk. The article also suggest the problem is exacerbated by
> legislation allowing claimants to bring an action relating to alleged
> negligence up to 15 years after it has happened.
>
> Sorry for the worrying news which may have spoilt your breakfast and I am
> not sure if indemnity insurers work on a Saturday!
>
> Marcus
>
> ----------End of Message----------
>
> Archives for the Accessibuilt discussion list are located at
>
> www.jiscmail.ac.uk/lists/accessibuilt.html
>
> You can JOIN or Leave the list from this web page as well
>
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