Uber bans London driver who refused passengers because he 'doesn't take Jews'

Driver cancels booking after seeing passengers wearing traditional kippahs on their heads

Uber has banned a driver from using its app after he refused to pick up two Jewish passengers (AFP/Getty Images)

An Uber driver has been banned from the ride-hailing app after he allegedly refused to pick up two men because he would not "take Jews”.

The driver, identified only as Ahmad, had been booked to collect passenger Sam Adler and his business partner in Wembley, northwest London, but drove off when he saw them.

Mr Adler said he believed the driver noticed both men were wearing kippahs, the traditional Jewish cap.

“[He] turned around, and as he drove past us, said ‘I don’t take Jews’. Then he hightailed it, just pegged it," he told The Jewish Chronicle.

The driver cancelled the booking over the app after leaving.

Uber told The Independent the 1 April incident was "totally unacceptable" and said it "does not tolerate any form of discrimination".

A spokesman added: "We have been in contact with this rider to offer our support. As soon as we are made aware of these situations we remove a driver’s access from the app, and in London report them to the Metropolitan Police."

But Mr Adler said the company had refused to pay compensation, telling him: “We would never want to minimise an experience like you describe by putting an arbitrary monetary value on the situation.”

Mr Adler said the incident, which follows the resignation of nine Labour MPs over the party's handling of antisemitism, made him feel that “what is going on in Parliament is spreading out and having a wider effect on people“.

According to the Community Security Trust (CST), a Jewish charity, anti-semitic hate crimes in the UK rose by 16 per cent in 2018, the highest level on record for the third consecutive year.

Mark Gardner, the charity's director of communications, told The Independent Mr Adler's experience was "an ugly example of basic racism and the kind of thing we don’t expect to hear or see in this day and age".

CST recorded over 100 antisemitic incidents in every month of 2018 and said the rise “suggests an enduring situation in which people appear to be more confident to express their views”.