Judge in Uber case quits over husband’s links to taxi app
A TOP judge overseeing taxi app Uber’s fight to operate in London has withdrawn from the case over claims of a link between the tech giant and her husband’s work.
Chief magistrate Emma Arbuthnot reinstated Uber’s licence after it was judged not a ‘fit and proper’ private car hire operator over safety fears.
But now a Sunday newspaper investigation has revealed that her former Tory MP husband Lord Arbuthnot is a consultant to a firm whose clients include the Qatar Investment Authority, which has reportedly invested in Uber.
It comes after an appeal by Uber which last year lost its licence to operate in the capital.
In June, Lady Arbuthnot approved a probationary 15month licence after Uber said it had made ‘wholesale’ reforms.
As James Arbuthnot, her husband was Tory MP for North East Hampshire for 18 years and served as shadow chief whip and chair of the defence select committee before being nominated for a peerage by David Cameron in 2015.
Until the end of last year – three weeks after the start of Uber’s appeal bid – Lord Arbuthnot was a director of SC Strategy Ltd, a private intelligence company.
The firm has no website but one of its clients has been the Qatar Investment Authority (QIA), a giant sovereign wealth fund that invests billions around the world.
In 2014, it was reported that QIA had participated in a $1.2billion financing round for Uber.
While Lord Arbuthnot is no longer a director of SC Strategy, his parliamentary website states that he remains a senior consultant to the firm, a paid role.
Mick Rix, national officer with the GMB union which contested Uber’s London licence, told the Observer: ‘Any matter which may be perceived as a conflict of interest is required to be drawn to the attention of the parties involved in any litigation at the outset.’
Responding to the claims, a spokesman for the judiciary said: ‘The chief magistrate had been due to hear a licensing appeal by Uber in Brighton at a date yet to be fixed. However, as soon as this link was pointed out to her, she assigned the case to a fellow judge. It is essential that judges not only are, but are seen to be, absolutely impartial.’
He said it was the first time that such a connection had been brought to her attention and she and her husband were unaware of a link between QIA and Uber.