The scenario may be grimly familiar to many British tourists who’ve decided to entrust their holiday transport to a taxi driver abroad.
Having negotiated a suitable fare, you hit the road. Only to discover, upon arrival at your final destination, that the fee for the journey has mysteriously – and dramatically – increased.
A furious row ensues, in which the taxi driver’s grasp of English seems to progressively worsen. Threats are issued and voices raised. Sometimes, the local police are called. And at the end of the whole thing, a hapless Brit is left hundreds of pounds out of pocket.
All this, and more, affected one very high-profile visitor to the French Alps during the Easter holidays last month.
The individual in question was one David Lammy, our Foreign Secretary. And the location in the Haute-Savoie region was Flaine, a French ski resort popular with Brits whose budgets don’t extend to more up-market destinations across the Swiss border.
