A Stirrer Campaign

CLAMPING ROW REACHES PARLIAMENT

19-01-2008

The Stirrer’s campaign to rid the West Midlands of clamping reached parliament this week, when Perry Barr MP Khalid Mahmood called for the practice to be abolished.

Mahmood raised the case of his constituent Nicola Watts in the Commons on Thursday, after her story was featured on this website and in the Birmingham Mail.

She complained of being blocked in and held hostage near Five Ways, before being forced to hand over £150 (see link here)

“If she had refused to pay that, she would have had to pay an additional £100 clamping charge,” pointed out Mahmood.

He then asked the Leader of the House of Commons, Harriet Harman, “Will my right hon. and learned Friend look into this matter urgently, and bring legislation to the House so that we can do what the Scottish Parliament has done, and abolish the practice?”

Harman encouraged Mahmood to raise the issue again next Tuesday during Transport questions, saying, “We all want good traffic circulation and effective clamping, but we do not want extortion by cowboys.”

Mahmood – and The Stirrer – have vowed not to let the issue rest there.

Challenged to maintain the fight against clampers, the MP pledged, “We will. Let’s go for it.”

Also see link here and link here

Should clamping be outlawed in England like it is in Scotland?

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