Manchester Private Hire Taxis in Bus Lanes

There is currently a debate going on in Manchester about whether Private Hire Taxi Vehicles (PHVs) should be allowed to use Bus Lanes in the same way Hackney Carriages (Black Cabs) are permitted to.  

The City Council is unwilling to allow Private Hire Taxis in the Bus Lanes because they're concerned about how they could distinguish them from motorists and other Council's Private Taxis and what impact it would have on Buses. This is part of the reply I recently recieved from the Council's Deputy Chief Executive:

However the Manchester Private Hire Association argue that the reasons Private Hire Taxis should be allowed to use the Bus Lanes is because

A) PHVs can clearly be distinguished from a normal car
B) 64 Councils nationally allow PHVs in Bus Lanes (major cities are Liverpool/Glasgow)
C) Equality act 2010 is being broken against their customers who choose to use this form of transport over another
D) Unfair competition laws broken (EU articles 49,56,58) - allowing Black Cabs doing the same job to use Bus Lanes
E) Green Issues - Stuck in traffic adds pollution to the city
F) Stuck in traffic means PHVs customers will pay more as meter clocks up waiting time.
G) Stuck in traffic PHVs customers can miss Hospital/Doctors/Dentists appointments adding extra pressure to NHS waiting lists and appointments.

They also dispute the Councils concerns about not being able to distinguish PHVs:

What do you think? Should Private Hire Taxi Vehicles be allowed to use Bus Lanes?