Taxi driver in France charged with stealing from David Lammy and his wife

A taxi driver has been charged by French police with stealing luggage and cash from the UK’s foreign secretary, David Lammy, and his wife, Nicola Green.

The driver took the couple more than 600km (370 miles) from the town of Forli in Italy to the French ski resort of Flaine, Haute-Savoie, last month.

The Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO) said Lammy and his spouse were victims in the case and that the driver has been charged with theft after driving off with their luggage.

It also denied that the Labour MP for Tottenham had refused to pay the driver.

Whitehall sources said no sensitive material was in the pair’s holiday luggage.

Prosecutors opened an investigation into a “commercial dispute” in Bonneville after the driver filed a complaint.

The Bonneville prosecutor, Boris Duffau, told the BBC the taxi driver was being charged with theft.

He said: “An investigation has been opened following a disagreement regarding the payment of a taxi ride between Italy and France.

“After an investigation by French police, the Bonneville prosecutor’s office has decided to prosecute the taxi driver who has been summoned to appear at the Bonneville court on 3 November 2025.

“He has been charged with theft (of luggage and cash) to the detriment of Nicola Green and David Lindon Lammy.”

The driver had told French media that Lammy became “aggressive” when asked to pay €700 (£590) of the €1,550 bill, the remainder of which was to be paid by the booking service.

The fee was paid upfront to the transfer service but the driver insisted he was owed money on arrival and that he needed to be paid in cash, a source said.

Green, who was speaking to the taxi driver while her husband went into the house, told police in a statement that she felt threatened and that the driver showed her a knife in his glove box, according to the PA news agency.

It is understood that after he left with their luggage, a member of the foreign secretary’s office contacted the driver to get it back, and it was deposited at a police station with a “considerable” sum of money missing from Green’s bag.

A Foreign Office spokesperson said: “We totally refute these allegations. The fare was paid in full.

“The foreign secretary and his wife are named as victims in this matter and the driver has been charged with theft.

“As there is an ongoing legal process, it would be inappropriate to comment further.”