Corruption by Sadiq Khan and County Hall

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Network Rail & TFL have refused to allow reasonable adjustments to wheelchair bound performers stopping them from working as performers & buskers in all their mainline railway stations. Sadiq Khan has indorsed and funded this policy by Network Rail & TFL with your money. This is effectively a ban.

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In 8 Years Network Rail and TFL have refused to allow disabled performers to work for a living as performers and buskers who also require:

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1) Extra Time to set up and brake down our gear, over an an hour in some cases such as me, in this case this is Unlawful to refuse, but endorsed and paid for by Sadiq Kahn, Network Rail and TFL. Details below.

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2) Disabled only busking pitches ( like disabled parking) have been consistently refused (This is an absolute necessity for all wheelchair and severely disabled performers) These pitches have been requested for 7 years, (emails available for scrutiny) but never been set up with the old excuse. ''We don't have any wheelchair visually or severely disabled people performing so don't have to set them up in advance''. This is a lie as TFL Network Rail and Sadiq Kahn hold auditions for these unpaid, busking opportunities. So all they have to do is never audition anyone in a wheelchair visibly or severely disabled! This is of course unlawful. Endorsed by Sadiq Kahn Network Rail and TFL

 

3) TFL Sadiq Kahn and Network Rail demand that Wheelchair visibly and severely disabled performers pre-book a pitch. This discriminates and affectively bans disabled performers as detailed below so please read on.

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4) Network Rail TFL and Sadiq Kahn have out-sourced their unlawful despicable discriminatory tactics to out side companies so they can hide behind this invisible wall. If you remember the last Government did exactly the same thing to marginalise and discredit disabled people, so not much has changed even though we are told it has.

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5) It is stated Government policy to encourage as many disabled people into work. So why has Sadiq Kahn Network Rail and TFL been allowed to prevent wheelchair and visibly disabled people form working for a living? So is this new Government really lying to us, just like the last one.

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6) These are, unpaid busking performance opportunities, not top end paid for performances in the West End. So why have wheelchair visibly and severely disabled young people been turned away and denied these life changing opportunities to work as musicians and performances, to get off benefits and build sustainable better more fulfilling better paid lives. Why does TFL Sadiq Kahn and Network Rail steadfastly want to keep visibly disabled and wheelchair performers out of the public eye and out of the music performing Arts business and keep them on benefits?

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7) Is the performing arts business the last industry to be allowed to discriminate against wheelchair and visibly disabled people from employment opportunities, paid for by this Government and the Arts Council.

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8) The Southbank also don't allow wheelchair and visibly disabled performers to busk. I had a South Bank licence when I was able to walk, until that is I was confined again to my wheelchair. My licence was removed and never returned.

I did also discover corruption in the private security and Met Police on the South Bank, so having honest disabled people may also be the reason why the Arts Council and the South Bank don't want wheelchair and visibly disabled people with integrity, who have the guts to blow the whistle and who also aspire to be an MP.

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9) All the music events paid for by Sadiq Kahn never allow wheelchair visibly or severely disabled performers, although unlawful, and paid for by you.

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10) I also believe that performers with different political vies to Sadiq Kahn and those who write protest songs, have also been denied busking spots on the Tube and Network Rail. So much for free speach.

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Documents show there was quite a number of disabled performers on the Tube prior to TFL outsourcing their busking, operation, after which all the wheelchair and visibly disabled performers who needed assistance were never allowed back, forced back onto benefits and back into poverty by Sadiq Kahn, Network Rail and TFL. Details below..

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A few years ago, after a series of discrimination complaints regarding the selection of buskers on the tube, Sadiq Khan set up a private company, although operated from a desk within Council Hall called ''Busk In London/Found Music.'' This is a sham company (I believe unlawful) as when started it is operated from the same desk as it did when it was not a company and operated by the same TFL/County Hall people.

The private company allowed Sadiq Khan to prevent ''visibly disabled performers'' who needed greater & more expensive reasonable adjustments, from performing in public in London & busking on the Tube or Network rail, as this may appear bad to tourists. As if London didn't look after their disabled people. It made it look to much like disabled people begging on the tube and Railways, and cost a lot more money to provide the reasonable adjustments required under the law. By making sure that this private company was allowed to select whom ever they wanted to busk on the Tube without oversight, it meant anyone with competing political views or was visibly disabled, such as in a wheelchair or anyone viewed as politically or socially undesirable could be unlawfully excluded from working for a living as a performer on the Tube or Network Rail.

 This is pure disability discrimination and corruption by Sadiq Khan.

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I was offered an audition until they discovered I was in a wheelchair, then the offer was removed.

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​​​​In line with new Government policy --- This Autumn and Winter disabled musicians will be performing without a licence at Tube stations, Main Line railway stations, covered markets in front of Parliament and will certainly be arrested for being disabled and going to work for a living without a licence., as the Government has directed, Most people didn't know that disabled performers in London have to have a licence to perform on the streets! I suspect most MP's didn't know that ether!

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This will mean the courts will finally be asked to answer the question: ''Can the London Mayor make criminals of disabled people for going to work without giving them the reasonable adjustments'' as we believe he is bound by under the Disability Discrimination Act? The court will be asked ''should the London Mayor provide disabled busking pitches for disabled musicians and performers as he already does for disabled parking, in order to stop discrimination to disabled people by his office''?​

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Every street performer licensing authority in the UK, including London, has broken the law. Under the Disability Discrimination Act 1995 the only way to allow disabled performers to fully access restricted licenced undercover busking spots such as on the Tube, London railway stations, covered markets, etc is to have dedicated disabled pitches such as you see for disabled parking. At the moment disabled street performers are the only group forced to perform outside in Winter.

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Having dedicated disabled performing pitched makes sense for a number of reasons. Disabled performers need extra time to set up and brake down, up to an hour ether side of their performance. This extra time would disrupt regular musicians and significantly reduce their time, so disabled only pitches is the only solution that would satisfy everyone, except The Mayor and Network Rail. Disabled people often cannot work when they want to, so work when they are able to, and this is determined by their disability. So pre-booking means due to their disability they are going to be treated as abled bodied, and will loose performance time and wages. All the above pitches have to be booked in advance, which discriminates against disabled people, just as in disabled parking a number of disabled pitched should be permanently available without having to pre-book, but the Mayor of London, Westminster City Council and Greenwich council have refused to implement this. Many the above are licenced by a monopoly called Found Music or Busk In London appointed by the London Mayor, also Westminster City Council or Greenwich council.