A lionness defening her cubs would bave nothing on Alistair Carmichael in defence of the island communities he represents.
Alistair’s constituents from Shetland had booked a car hire in Glasgow. Europcar insisted they present their passports, which they hadn’t thought to bring given that they come from Shetland, clearly part of the UK. They were told that this was because they were from a “British island”. They were later told that this is defined as “one who, at the time of rental, is not resident in the United Kingdom or Northern Ireland. Included in this definition are residents of the Shetland, Orkneys, Hebrides, Isle of Man, Isle of Scilly, Channel Islands and the Isle of Wight.”
They therefore ended up stranded and out of pocket. After Alistair’s intervention, they got heir money back but have not changed their absolute nonsense of a policy.
Alistair explained in a video:
Alistair said:
This is an utterly bizarre policy on the part of Europcar. At best it is a mistake, but one which demonstrates woeful ignorance on the part of the company or their staff about the basic composition of the United Kingdom. At worst it is intentional and wholly unjustified discrimination against people from island communities.
Shetland is as much a part of the United Kingdom as anywhere else. It is unclear why residents of any UK island community – whether Shetland, Orkney or indeed the Isle of Wight – should be treated differently from residents of mainland communities when hiring a vehicle within the UK.
There is no justification for islanders to be treated less favourably or subjected to unclear and unjustified requirements when accessing services on the mainland. I shall expect a clear explanation from Europcar on these points – and an apology to my constituents – in the coming days.
* Caron Lindsay is Editor of Liberal Democrat Voice and blogs at Caron's Musings. You can find her on Bluesky at caronmlindsay.bsky.social
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5 Comments
Hire car companies do have some bizarre restrictions, often related to individual companies and airports. Among them is various age restrictions for seniors. I had such a problem some years ago with a major hirer at Belfast International Airport. It wasn’t mentioned by the broker I’d booked through, nor the hire company’s main UK website – you had to drill down through the Northern Ireland subsection to that airport. An enquiry to Which resulted in a paragraph in Traveller Which’s article on restrictions faced by seniors and then a refund.
On the related subject of passports being required by airlines within the Common Travel Area (UK + Ireland) where Governments do NOT require them. This is an unwelcome recent development.
Another limitation is the ability to take a hire car on a ferry; I initially thought it was this restriction Alistair was going to comment upon, given the wide use of ferries between the islands.
@Ian, I suspect the passport requirement is because the UK doesn’t have identity cards. A problem a friend of my son has encountered is trying to fly to the UK, from a European country on a French passport and being required to produce evidence of residency in France by the airline, not border control.
What’s wrong with a driving licence ?
It’s a few years ago now, but I remember having a problem with a car we had hired in Alaska, and having a long argument with a call-handler somewhere in the ‘lower 48’ who maintained that we had driven the car into a different country. She was absolutely certain that Alaska was not part of the USA.
Not all British islands are alike legally.
A resident of the Channel Islands, or the Isle of Man, is not automatically a British Citizen, nor can they vote in British elections. These islands have their own parliaments (under various names, e.g. States of Jersey, Tynwald). They are Crown Dependencies, and the only authority over their parliaments is King Charles III. Not Westminster. They do not have to adopt British laws (though they often make their own equivalent ones).
The Scottish islands however ARE part of the UK and are included in Westminster (and Scottish) constituencies.
All this is no excuse for a company based in Scotland to not know that Scottish islanders are British.