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Blue badge holders should not pay airport drop-off fees, charity says

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Blue badge holders should not pay airport drop-off fees, charity says


Mitchell Labiak

Business reporter, BBC News

Getty Images Wheelchair user photographed from behind looks at a large departures board in an airportGetty Images

All UK airports should stop charging blue badge holders for being dropped off close to terminals, a disability charity has said.

Several people with blue badges got in touch with the BBC following news that more than half of the busiest airports had raised the so-called “kiss-and-fly” fees to as high as £7 in some cases.

Many airports already offer discounts or waive the fee for disabled drivers, but blue badge holders say the system is complex and inconsistent.

Graham Footer, chief executive of Disabled Motoring UK, said some airports have “allowed greed to cloud their judgement”, and argues people with disabilities should not have to pay the charge at all.

“Disabled customers deserve to be treated with respect and dignity and not fleeced as soon as they arrive,” he said.

Free drop offs

The BBC contacted the 20 busiest airports in the UK to confirm their policy on drop-off charges for blue badge holders.

London City does not charge drop-off fees for any kind of passenger.

Gatwick, Birmingham, Edinburgh, Heathrow, Liverpool John Lennon and Manchester all charge a drop-off fee, but blue badge holders do not have to pay it.

Luton, Glasgow, Belfast International, Belfast City, East Midlands, Aberdeen, and Southampton all charge blue badge holders the same as other passengers for using the drop-off spaces closest to the airport. But they also all offer separate free drop-off parking specifically for blue badge holders elsewhere.

For Glasgow and Aberdeen, this parking is only free if blue badge holders are being dropped off by family or friends – not if they are dropped off by taxi.

All airports offer free drop-off options further from the terminals for all passengers – not just blue badge holders – such as “park and ride” facilities where people can leave their car and take a bus to the airport.

Bristol, Leeds Bradford, and Bournemouth all charge blue badge holders for drop off but allow them to stay for longer than other passengers at a lower fee.

Bristol charges £7 for 40 minutes, Leeds Bradford charges £7 for 60 minutes, and Bournemouth charges £5 for four hours because it said disabled passengers “may require more time”.

Only Cardiff, Newcastle, and Stansted charge the same fee with no discount at all.

Cardiff charges £3 for 10 minutes, Newcastle charges £5 for 10 minutes, and Stansted charges £7 for 15 minutes.

Airports UK, which represents the industry, said that the best accessible drop-off for blue badge holders depends on the layout of the airport.

“No one option is ideal at all airports, so to optimise access at each airport the offer will necessarily be different,” it said.

It advised passengers to check the airport’s website before travelling to identify the best drop-off location.

‘You have to jump through hoops’

Most of the airports that waive drop-off fees do so if a disabled driver shows their blue badge at the airport on the day.

However, for Heathrow and Liverpool, the exemption needs to be claimed online or on the phone either before or after travelling. Heathrow says its online process for confirming blue badges can take five days to complete, though it told the BBC it usually takes 48 hours.

James Williams, 67, from London finds these services difficult to use.

“I am a blue badge holder and I have to pay because I am not computer literate,” he says, arguing that “you have to jump through hoops to get this discount”.

James Williams A medium close up of James Williams wearing a grey top and glassesJames Williams

James Williams, a blue badge holder from London, says he ends up paying drop-off fees because he’s “not computer literate”

Jonathan Cassar, 51, from London says the complex nature of online registration means that “disabled people who need to be dropped at terminal cannot be spontaneous as others can”.

Heathrow said it had tried to make the blue badge registration process “as simple as possible” and advised anyone who needs registration urgently to get it approved over the phone.

Liverpool said it had introduced online confirmation “to minimise abuse of the blue badge system”.

‘Not against principle’

Not all blue badge holders feel being charged for airport drop off is unfair.

Gordon Richardson, chair of the British Polio Fellowship Board, is a blue badge holder but says he is “not against the principle” of disabled people paying the same as non-disabled people.

He says what is most important is that the space is accessible and easy to use.

He urges blue badge holders to contact airports before travelling so that the airports can have the staff ready to help them and ensure they get their discount or free parking.

Many of the airports the BBC contacted said their blue badge policies had been drafted in consultation with disability groups and with special consideration for their needs.



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Stock Market News Live Updates: Sensex Down Over 1,000 Points, Nifty Below 24,900; India VIX Jumps Nearly 20%

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Stock Market News Live Updates: Sensex Down Over 1,000 Points, Nifty Below 24,900; India VIX Jumps Nearly 20%


Nifty, Sensex Stock Market Today Live Updates: Indian benchmark indices continued their downward trajectory on Monday, tracking weak global cues as geopolitical tensions between the US and Iran escalated.

As of 11:00 AM, the Sensex was trading 1.34 per cent, or 1,086.02 points, lower at 80,201.17, while the Nifty50 declined 1.31 per cent, or 350.55 points, to 24,828.10. Shares of Larsen & Toubro, InterGlobe Aviation and Adani Ports and Special Economic Zone were among the biggest laggards in the Nifty 50 index.

Broader market indices also traded in the red, with the Nifty MidCap and Nifty SmallCap indices falling 0.93 per cent and 1.3 per cent, respectively. Among sectoral indices, the Nifty Auto was the worst performer, sliding more than 2 per cent as shares of Maruti Suzuki India and Mahindra & Mahindra came under pressure.

On the other hand, the Nifty Metal index declined the least, making it the relatively best-performing sectoral index in early trade despite the overall weak market sentiment.

Global Cues

Over the weekend, Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei and several senior officials were killed in a joint US-Israel military operation. The conflict appears set to intensify, with US President Donald Trump vowing to retaliate after American servicemen were killed in Iran’s counterattacks, according to agency reports.

Asian markets tumbled in early Monday trade. Japan’s Nikkei 225 and South Korea’s Kospi dropped as much as 2.7% and 2.43%, respectively.

On Sunday, US stock futures declined more than 1% after the strikes on Iran. Both the S&P 500 and the Dow Jones Industrial Average were reported to have fallen 1.11% each.

During the Asia session, Dow Jones Industrial Average futures and S&P 500 futures were down 0.6% and 0.54%, respectively.

In commodities, oil prices surged amid rising concerns over supply disruptions in the key producing region. Brent crude futures jumped 13.76% to $82.37 per barrel — the highest level since January 2025 — according to Bloomberg data.

Gold and silver futures rose more than 1% as investors turned to safe-haven assets.



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Labour parliamentarians urge UK Government to oppose Rosebank oil field

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Labour parliamentarians urge UK Government to oppose Rosebank oil field



Labour MPs are among a group of more than 60 parliamentarians to have made public their opposition to the planned Rosebank oil field – with one of Sir Keir Starmer’s backbenchers urging the Government to rule against the development and take a stand “against Trump, Reform and their fossil fuel paymasters”.

Clive Lewis is one of more than 50 MPs at Westminster who have signed a pledge from campaign group Uplift to “oppose the Rosebank oil field” and instead “advocate for a properly funded just transition for oil and gas workers and communities”.

Urging the Government to reject the development, Norwich South MP Mr Lewis said: “We must stand our ground against Trump, Reform and their fossil fuel paymasters.

“Approving an enormous new oil field would mean caving in to their anti-climate, anti-renewables agenda that runs completely counter to our values and our long-term interests.”

Scottish Labour MP Chris Murray, another of the Labour MPs to have signed the pledge, said the decision on Rosebank was “an opportunity for the Government to change course”.

It comes as the UK Government continues to consider whether the development of the oil field can go ahead – with Labour now under mounting pressure after the loss of the Gorton and Denton by-election to the Greens on Thursday.

Rosebank, which lies about 80 miles west of Shetland, is the UK’s largest untapped field, containing up to an estimated 300 million barrels of oil.

Drilling there was approved by the Conservative government in 2023 but was then subject to a legal challenge in the wake of a Supreme Court ruling which said the emissions created from burning fossil fuels should be considered when granting permission for new sites.

Now the decision on whether it can proceed lies with Labour ministers – with some 16 Labour MPs having made plain their opposition to the development.

The group includes Mr Lewis, Mr Murray, former Labour shadow chancellor John McDonnell and Scottish Labour’s Brian Leishman.

Former Labour MPs Jeremy Corbyn and Diane Abbott have also signed the pledge, along with a number of Liberal Democrat and Green MPs, SNP MP Chris Law, Plaid Cymru’s Liz Saville Roberts and Paul Maskey of Sinn Fein.

In Scotland a number of Labour MSPs have signed the pledge, along with Green MSPs – including the party’s Scottish co-leader Ross Greer – and former SNP health secretary Michael Matheson.

While previous Scottish first ministers Nicola Sturgeon and Humza Yousaf made plain their opposition to Rosebank, First Minister John Swinney has insisted the Scottish Government takes a “case-by-case approach” to new oil and gas developments, stressing these should only proceed if found to be compatible with climate change targets.

Mr Lewis said opposing Rosebank would “show that a Labour Government will stand by the promises we made to the country”.

He added: “There are only so many times we can afford to make mistakes and then change course.

“With Rosebank, we have an opportunity to get it right the first time.”

Mr Murray, the Labour MP for Edinburgh East and Musselburgh, said many locals in his constituency were “deeply concerned about Rosebank and rightly so”.

He added: “Climate change is one of the reasons I came into politics, and opening new oil and gas fields is simply incompatible with our climate commitments.

“With the North Sea’s oil supply dwindling, Scotland’s energy sector must transition to clean energy, or workers risk being left behind.”

Scottish Labour MSP Mercedes Villalba, who has also signed the pledge, argued that “approving projects like Rosebank will lock us into a toxic dependence on volatile, conflict-ridden fossil fuels”.

This would create “another excuse to delay the urgent investment needed to create secure, well-paid jobs for Scotland’s workers”, she added.

Ms Villalba said: “In an increasingly uncertain world, where climate action is relegated in favour of fossil politics, the UK and Scotland must lead the way on the clean energy transition.”

Wera Hobhouse, Liberal Democrat MP for Bath, said people in her constituency and across the country “are already facing the consequences of an increasingly unstable climate”.

Highlighting the impact of flooding and “skyrocketing food prices”, she said that “climate impacts are now a daily reality”.

Ms Hobhouse said: “Extreme weather is damaging crops, putting pressure on farmers, and destroying our precious natural environment.

“We cannot ignore these warning signs.

“A massive new oil field like Rosebank would only make matters worse.

“The emissions would be enormous, locking us into decades more pollution when we should be cutting carbon and unlocking the benefits of cheap, renewable energy.”

Approving the Rosebank development would “make a mockery of Labour’s environmental promises”, she said.

A UK Government spokesperson said: “Our priority is to deliver a fair, orderly and prosperous transition in the North Sea in line with our climate and legal obligations, which drives our clean energy future of energy security, lower bills, and good long-term jobs.”



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UK social media ban for under 16s consultation begins

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UK social media ban for under 16s consultation begins



Discussions over what measures to implement to protect children’s wellbeing will last for three months.



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