THE BELLY IS A RASCAL

ITA HAVE POSTPONED

MONDAY'S DEMO

The ITA have advised me that their decision is based upon the current state of trade reticence.
The trade seems to take comfort in the fact that the Mayor of London is trying his utmost to combat Uber and its powerful friends, to save our three hundred and fifty year old iconic trade.
That may or may not be true - only time will tell.

He is also trying his best to placate a huge number of dissatisfied Taxi drivers, who feel they have been thrown overboard in favour of a rich American conglomerate who pays nothing into our economy, but relies upon UK government subsidies to pay their impoverished 'employees'.
The Mayor's promises have allowed the more apathetic amongst us to plead for a respite while we wait ... wait for what exactly?
Wait until May comes and goes, and Uber renew their license?

The majority of the Taxi trade never Demo.
The majority of the Taxi trade are only too willing to let the minority speak up for them, while they carry on regardless.
The majority of the Taxi trade like to moan about work or the lack of it, or about the roads, or Uber, or TfL, or official statistics that other proactive drivers have uncovered for them - but moaning is about as far as they are prepared to go.
The majority of the trade will not fight, and are not worth fighting for.

Think of the drivers with huge housing costs, children to keep and an overpriced taxi to maintain, who cannot make ends meet; who are pulling their hair out in sheer frustration, caused not by their incompetence, but by TfL's criminality.

Our fight is not against the Mayor.
Our fight is not against the ineffective GLA.
Our fight is against injustice. It is against the deregulation and destruction of our trade.
Our fight is against Cameron, Osborne, Johnson, Anderson, Kramer, Javid and all the other corrupt officials with a vested interest in overseeing our demise.
Our fight is against Daniels, Bertram, Hendy, Mason, Emmerson and all those who seek to destroy our trade for their own personal gain.

SO WHAT HAS THE MAYOR PROMISED?

Hire and reward insurance.
This is already the law.
The fact that it has not been enforced, says more about Transport for London (TfL), than it does the Mayor.

Extra ranks.
For who? Minicabs to sit on, whilst Compliance Officers lounge in some burger bar, out of sight?
What good are extra ranks if they are not policed?
I bet the fog-lit minicabs are jumping for joy though.

Access to more bus lanes.
Why are we not allowed into all bus lanes anyway?
Cycles use them - and they slow buses up far more than Taxis ever could.
And what about Tottenham Court Road?
We know all about the 'Great Bus Scam', but how many buses need the whole of Tottenham Court Road to themselves?

Agreed fare in advance for Private Hire customers.
Another rule that TfL have not enforced.
Private Hire (minicabs) have always been required to quote a fare in advance of the journey.

Phone contact with Customer Service.
TfL are rewriting the rules to accommodate Uber.
Landlines may become a requirement of the past.
What is the point of having any rules or regulations, if they are changed to accommodate the highest bidder?

More Compliance Officers.
Are any of these new officers going to come out after dark?
The lot we have at the moment seem anything but nocturnal.
They drive around during the day, jumping out of vans to nick Taxi drivers fouling ranks, but once the sun goes down they are nowhere to be seen, except a handful huddled in McDonald's, whilst minicabs rank up outside clubs and restaurants with impunity.

Private Hire paying their way on compliance costs.
This is a common sense piece of husbandry.
And a good reason to lower the extortionate price of the Taxi license. I say extortionate, because the trade gets nothing back in return.

Minimum 3 year UK DBS.
A huge step in the right direction.
Dads Defending Daughters called for five years minimum citizenship - but at least three years citizenship is better than a letter of good conduct from an embassy who has little to no knowledge of the applicant.
These new measures might save a person from being raped or murdered.
As our Mayor stated, "Even one is one too many."
Unfortunately, this decision is not in the hands of Sadiq Khan.
This is new legislation we are seeking.
Do not underestimate the bought and paid for MPs and journalists, who will oppose this legislation in favour of thirty pieces of silver. For them, rape is merely collateral damage.
This legislation must be implemented in every workplace, where any applicant is left in charge of children and the vulnerable.
Dads Defending Daughters would like to see DNA tests brought in for all applicants.

The Mayor's intention for minicab proprietors to have Fleet Insurance.
How will this affect Uber? Uber claim they do not have a fleet. They are an IT company.
Finance for fleet insurance will be levied upon the individual driver by the employer.
This is just political rhetoric.

Reviewing ride-sharing with DfT.
Another rule change that our Mayor has no jurisdiction over.
Except those who directly benefit financially, who on God's green earth thinks sharing a minicab with strangers is a good thing?
It is bad enough that the minicab driver may be an unchecked stranger. Now the greedy bastards want our daughters and sons to get into a minicab with strange passengers too!

Topographical tests.
Who cares about Mickey Mouse topographical tests?
It is not the Knowledge of London.
The public will be led to believe minicab drivers actually know what they are doing.
Great public relations for the likes of Uber.

Driving tests.
This is something that is not feasible, and leads me to question the Mayor's motivation.
There are not enough examination centres available to take on an extra hundred thousand advanced driving tests over three years.
Nor is there enough time to allocate and carry out all these tests. Let alone the driving lessons needed to achieve a high enough level of competence.
The Mayor is anything but stupid. He knows this cannot be achieved. Yet he promises it. Why?
It is simpler for TfL to insist that every minicab applicant must have a DVLA pass certificate before applying for a minicab license. And has not merely exchanged their foreign license for a UK one.

Transparency and demarcation for cab related criminal offences and KSI statistics.
Already we are seeing that these are nothing more than meaningless words printed in a quaint little pamphlet, to appease a few worried Taxi drivers.
Where are the Freedom of Information statistics, which were due to be published on 20th September 2016?

Our trade organisations cannot get an acknowledgement, let alone any answers.

Reviewing in-venue minicab operators.
Reviewing what exactly?
Do you believe this dangerous practice will be rectified?
On what grounds?
TfL gave an Operators License to an IT company, for crying out loud!
They sell roundels to absolutely anyone!
They allow unchecked drivers to ferry the vunerable around!
They are never going to change this lucrative activity because of public safety issues.

WHAT ARE OUR DEMANDS?

A full Public Enquiry into Transport for London's corrupt relationship with Uber.
Are we just going to get on with our lives, like this never happened?
Are we supposed to forget those innocent victims of rape and sexual assault?
Are we supposed to forget those drivers who lost their homes?
Forget those drivers who suffered divorce?
Forget those drivers who suffered bankruptcy?
Forget those drivers who are so behind with mortgage payments it will be five or even ten years before they are back on track?
Forget those drivers who had to seek employment elsewhere?
Forget those drivers who suffered a nervous breakdown?
Are we supposed to forget the people who instigated this misery, and let them ride off into the sunset with a golden handshake and a brand new promotion?
Not bloody likely!

No more ineffectual enforcement.
We demand that Compliance Officers do the job they are paid to do.
Are we supposed to sit idly by while minicabs shit all over compliance loopholes, basking on our Taxi ranks, plying for hire in Mayfair and the City?
Is our 'right to work' not worth fighting for?

Capping of minicab licenses.
The government's own transport committee has spoken out against the complete and utter chaos caused by TfL's chaotic road strategy.
The transport committee are fed up with TfL issuing six hundred minicabs every week onto our roads, condoned by the Secretary of State for Business (BIS) and Department for Transport (DfT), and exacerbated by TfL's disastrous Cycle Superhighway.
Day-long congestion and rising levels of pollution is literally choking the life out of 9,500 Londoners every year.
BIS's solution to finding jobs for the unemployable, via mini-cabbing, is ruining Londoners lives.
Big and small businesses are moving away from this purpose built madness, every month.
London is not open - London is locked shut!
This is another problem that is outside the remit of Mayor Khan.
We demand that DfT and BIS curtail this ludicrous situation, promoted by Uber-loving Sajid Javid before he was banished to the political underworld by Theresa May PM.

Greed got us into this mess, and greed will keep us there.
The greed of an uncaring government, who would see us go the same way as the miners, printers and shipbuilders, so they could line their own pockets.
The greed of TfL management under orders from Cameron and Osborne, who in turn were under orders from 'Government' Sachs and other unctuous investors.
These obscene gluttons see rape and sexual assault as acceptable collateral damage, in their grubby quest for a bigger return on their investment.
These gannets are prepared to destroy the lives of good men and women, so they can gorge themselves on the profit of our misery.
Greedy self interested Taxi drivers would rather work on, than fight to stop this unprecedented rise of rape and sexual abuse in minicabs.
Greedy blinkered Taxi drivers with their heads buried in their lolly-bags, would rather let someone else take the time and effort to fight for their jobs.

We will not Demo for the sake of Demoing.
We will not Demo simply because we are angry.
We will not Demo against a fair and proper Mayor.
We will Demo against an unfit and improper regulator.
We will Demo against an unjust government.
We will Demo when they refuse to listen.
We will Demo when they refuse to answer.
We will Demo when they refuse to be accountable.
We will Demo to reverse unfair decisions made by unjust officials.
We will Demo to be heard!

"The belly is a rascal, it doesn't remember how well you treated it yesterday, it'll cry out for more tomorrow." — Alexander Solzhenitsyn

A BREATH OF FRESH AIR

CEASE FIRE!

On Tuesday, the Director of Service Operations TfL, Peter Blake handed me the 'Taxi and Private Hire Action Plan 2016', saying "It's all in here. All your demands are being met."

I thought, 'Yeah, right.'

But to be honest, they all are ... almost.

Mayor Khan and Transport for London have put an excellent package together.

The Mayor and Transport for London promise:

• Stringent Hire and reward insurance measures for Private Hire..
• Agreed fare in advance of journey for all Private Hire customers.
• Phone contact for passengers, with all Private Hire customer services.
• More Compliance Officers.
• Private Hire to pay their way, on compliance costs.
• A minimum 3 year UK DBS.
• An intention to revue Fleet Insurance for Private Hire companies.
• A revue on ride-sharing, with the Department for Transport.
• Basic topographical tests for Private Hire applicants.
• Rudimentary driving tests for Private Hire applicants.
• Transparency for cab related criminal offences.
• Transparency for cab related KSI.
• A revue of in-venue Private Hire operators.
• Opening up more Bus Lanes for Taxis.
• Card payment options.
• An increase in Taxi ranks.
• Establishing The Knowledge as a formal qualification.
• Regulating pedicabs and rickshaws.
• Improving engagement between TfL and all Taxi organisations.
• Lobbying for control over cross-border hiring - quite a biggy.
• And the big one, lobbying for a statutory definition of Plying for Hire - the RMT Taxi branch will be pleased.

So is the fight over?

"It's never over, till it's over."

We still need to get the Department for Transport  and Theresa May to set a cap for Private Hire vehicle licenses.

London is a massive choking car park:

600 Private Hire licenses issued every week;
Huge fleets of empty buses;

Massive cycle superhighways;

Works on every road, exacerbated by the lack of cohesion between local councils and TfL;

Most of London's roads frustratingly closed on weekends.

The previous administrations of TfL and the DfT, and Cameron's government are the guilty parties to this madness - which is still ongoing.

Rapes are still happening at an alarming rate in London.

The Government's attitude towards DBS checks must be highlighted.

At least our Mayor agrees with us.

Virtual ply-for-hire will be tested once the Mayor gets the Government revue.

Great news, but hey, let us not forget who sanctioned it.

Although we have been promised more Compliance Officers, they still need to do their job properly.

If they continue to swan around doing nothing, we will have no choice but to close Mayfair and the City.

A Public Enquiry into Transport for London's unhealthy relationship with a huge, well known American IT company, is essential.

Cameron and Osborne, Goldman Sachs, Johnson and Dedring, Mason and Hendy, Daniels and Emmerson, Jo Bertram and Rachel Whetstone, are all suspects.

So it looks as though we have no argument with Mayor Khan, or the present TfL administration.

But our fight continues on a governmental level.

I know we have come off of a decent week, with the help of Eid, but let's not bury our heads in our lolly-bags.
We have won nothing yet.

I would like to thank Mayor Sadiq Khan and Deputy Mayor Valerie Shawcross for their initiative.

SHALL WE DESIST, OR INSIST?

IS THAT IT?

Is that what we have been fighting for?

A few bus lanes that should be ours anyway, and minicabs obeying an existing law on insurance?

Maybe this Mayor is genuine, maybe not; we shall see.

Londoners desperately need a cap on Private Hire licenses, from the Department for Transport, and the Government.

I am told, Theresa May is far from satisfied with Transport for London's performance so far.

Maybe TfL are fighting for their existence too?

Rapes are still happening at an alarming rate in London - because the DBS is still being watered down with letters of good conduct and a failure to find out the truth from foreign applicants.

Many EU countries quash records of sex offenders, after only a few years.

Embassies who furnish TfL with a letter of good conduct for Private Hire applicants, may not be aware that the applicant in question resided in another country for many years, committing heinous crimes.

We need a minimum UK residency (5 years, in my opinion) for applicant, so proper UK checks can be made.

I could not care less about the English language tests.

I care even less if applicants have to sit a 'quickie' knowledge test.

I believe an 'advanced' driving test is unnecessary. Every Private Hire applicant should pass a DVLA test - not swap their foreign license for a UK one.

A minicab driver's lack of basic English and topographical knowledge is of no concern to me.

These are Taxi requirements - an Advanced Driving test, and the Knowledge of London..

Do not hand the likes of Uber the PR gift of claiming minicabs are like Taxis. They are not!!

At the moment there is nowhere these driving tests can be administered - so how is the Mayor going to pull that unworkable rabbit from his hat?

Uber could fund drivers' tests; most likely to be repaid over a loan period - shackling drivers to Uber financially, and adding prestige to Uber's damaged reputation.

Be careful of what you wish for.

The Government's 'blind eye' stance to DBS checks is generated to help employ of the unemployable, at current workers' expense.

Are foreign teachers afforded a watered down DBS?

Has no one learned from the Soham murders?

I want an undiluted DBS for everyone working with the vulnerable; taxi drivers, minicab drivers, school bus drivers, care workers, teachers, police officers, doctors and nurses. This minor demand is common sense. But does the Government truly have its citizens' welfare at heart?

What exactly has the Mayor promised us, that is not already ours?

English tests feed Uber's claim that the Mayor is unfair.

Do you think any Bollinger Bolsheviks, leaving a club in Shoreditch, care if their SatNav jockey can converse with them?

We should be demanding a Public Enquiry into the corruption of TfL regarding Uber, via Cameron and Osborne, and Goldman Sachs, Johnson and Dedring, Mason and Hendy, Daniels and Emmerson, and the likes of Jo Bertram, Rachel Whetstone and co.

Are we going to let them get away with it?

We need Compliance Officers to do their job properly.

Taxi ranks in Mayfair are being abused by minicabs and touts, sanctioned by clubs and restaurant managers, and neglected by TfL.

Minicabs are given carté blanche to hang it up in 'expectation' of a hiring, all over the West End, in stations and in the City - facilitating unofficial ranks, without fear from TfL compliance or police, to accept virtual hirings or a walk-ups for cash, courtesy of their prominent roundel or fog lights.

Let's not forget virtual plying-for-hire.

We need to get 'Ply for Hire' defined, one way or they other. At the moment, it's the 'other'.

We have nothing to lose; save the dog or put it down - at least we will know where we stand.

Minicabs and touts are not our only problem.

The issuing of 600 Private Hire licenses every single week of the year, waterlogged lanes of empty buses, obese cycle superhighways, ill-throughout pedestrianisation, constant unattended roadworks, and the abuse of London on weekends, treating it like a corporate playground, without taking its besieged residents into account, is adding to higher fares and longer, more frustrating journeys, that are killing the Taxi trade off; thanks to the three complicit monkeys; TfL, DfT and HM Government.

We have just had a pleasant week, due to Eid.

The Mayor's promises, perfectly timed to coincide with the holy holiday, may dampen the fire in some temporarily satisfied bellies.But we have all heard promises before.

Do not think proper civil disobedience goes unnoticed - it does not.

I admit to being impressed by Mayor Khan's personal achievements - yet I am impatient for his words to blossom into action.

Impatient because we do not have enough time for the Mayor's "Long term plan."

My scepticism of politicians plays out my frustration on Khan. If he is unable take criticism from some upstart Taxi driver, then he is in the wrong job. And believe me; he is not in the wrong job.

So I will keep pushing the Mayor, best I can.

I acknowledge Mayor Khan's promises, and after dubbing him 'Silent Johnson', I am relieved to find he has finally spoken to us as a trade.
Communication is the bridge to all understanding.

Ding ding! Hear that?

That bell is the end of round one. Not the end of the fight.
Nothing has been won.

No one can yet claim "Peace in our time."

Eaten bread is soon forgotten.

THE KING OF FOB

SADIQ KHAN, THE SILENT JOHNSON

On 21 July 2016, I emailed Mayor Khan, in reply to a previous correspondence.

For previous correspondence, click HERE

Below: Mayor Khan takes his lead from a deficient TfL rulebook, as he sidesteps our questions and ignores our concerns.
His contempt for our disquiet, breeds mistrust and allows anxiety to fester.

Mayor Khan, the King of Fob.

I have named Sadiq Khan, 'Silent Johnson', because he is the very same as Boris, but without all the guff and bluster.

Khan may turn out to be the silent assassin of the Licensed London Taxi trade.

NO MORE

BACK TO THE MET

The Licensed London Taxi trade wish to disassociate themselves from Transport for London.

They want demarcation from Private Hire, and a governing body that puts Londoners before profits.

TFL HAVE DESTROYED LONDON

Stationary vehicles pollute the whole of London, due to insane road schemes and a Cycle Superhighway carved out for speed rather than safety.

Empty buses, due to Londoners realising they can walk faster than the stationary traffic.

Bus companies getting paid to deploy far more vehicles than is needed, in the 'great London bus scam', adding to London's polluted congestion.

Pedestrians, passengers, cyclists, motorcyclists, car and commercial driver's being killed or seriously injured on a daily basis by ill equipped bus drivers, poorly trained on the cheap, by TfL backed private enterprise.

Tubes packed like sardines, because the roads above are no longer a viable option.

Southeastern Trains consistently scoring lowest on the 'national passenger-satisfaction' list.

Trains constantly cancelled and delayed, with people being forced to return home, after hours of waiting in vain.

TfL overloading London, by issuing 600 minicab licences every single week of the year, onto a system already burgeoning from empty buses and an enormous CSH, to appease their partners in crime, and reap the financial benefits of over £300 per license.

TfL created a huge polluted and suffocating car park, by appeasing cyclists, who make up around ten percent of London's population.

What about the other ninety percent?

What about those politically insignificant road users, abandoned by TfL and the Mayor, amid the chaos and utter misery, who are trapped on wrong side of the CSH?

Cycle deaths per year, although tragic, do not compare to the tens of thousands choking and dying from Britain's polluted capital.

TFL NOT FIT FOR PURPOSE

TfL are placing Londoners in danger by failing to execute thorough background checks on minicab drivers.

Drivers undergo a watered down CRB, known as a DBS, where foreign nationals are allowed to bypass checks by producing a letter of good conduct.

TfL stubbornly refuse to inform Londoners about minicab rape and sexual abuse statistics – there are at least a thousand victims per year.

TfL allow mincabs to be driven by drivers who have never passed a DVLA driving test.

TfL refuse to release proper statistics defining the astonishing amount of minicab Road Traffic Accidents.

TfL refuse to release 'death attributed to buses' statistics - on average, a bus is involved in a KSI every day.

Under threat of immediate License revocation, TfL insist upon forcing lone Taxi drivers to chose between getting in the back of a Taxi with a potential predator, and foregoing the fare; due to TfL's new draconian payment mandate.

TfL have cut Taxi driver's earnings by up to five percent, on all card transactions - not affording drivers the same rights of work practice TfL use.

TfL allowed minicabs to carry fare paying passengers without insurance.

TfL and the Metropolitan Police are complicit in allowing minicabs to carry on working whilst uninsured.

TfL brazenly admit they allowed minicabs carte blanche, to work uninsured for years.

A senior TfL executive publicly lied to the GLA, about on-off insurance, in order to assist Uber.

A senior TfL executive fabricated the existence of an Uber landline, in a failed bid to hoodwink the GLA.

Incredulously, the GLA responded by taking no action.

ALLEGATIONS OF CORRUPTION

The Garden Bridge scandal, where allegations of 'malfeasance in public office', is being investigated.

Isabel Dedring, Deputy Mayor for Transport at the time, now works for Arup, the company who procured the £175m Garden Bridge contract.

TfL executives have indulged in unmonitored, 'out of office' meetings with Uber executives.

TfL executives have convened unminuted, off the record meetings with Uber.

At least one TfL executive is guilty of tutoring Uber, on how to evade regulation.

TfL executives have paid themselves exorbitant bonuses, out of public money, for absolute failure.

London's Transport Committee found TfL "not fit for purpose" and "woefully inadequate". Yet the tide of bonuses keep flowing upstream.

A senior TfL executive has been reported by forty five staff members, for sexual harassment and bullying.

A TfL executive was rewarded with a promotion, even after indiscretions such as using Londoner's hard earned money to pay a prostitute via an Oyster card.

TfL is driving legitimate, law abiding Private Hire companies out of business, by favouring and failing to regulate TfL partners, Uber.

TfL are harassing Taxi drivers for minor misdemeanours, such as no ‘No Smoking’ signs, whilst allowing minicabs to illegally ply-for-hire on Taxi ranks, red routes and station forecourts.

TfL twinned with FIFA

SUPPORTING THE ITA

UNITED WE STAND

Dads Defending Daughters understand it is nigh on impossible for Orgs to circumnavigate the Met, and get a decent series of demos going.

The ITA 'No more' campaign is a demand for the return of Taxi identity.
Taxis do not want to be associated with corruption and rape.
TfL are not fit for purpose.
TfL have failed London.

There has to be groups like the ITA, unfortunate as that may seem, to get things done.

Otherwise we feel shipwrecked, powerlessly floating toward oblivion.

Maybe the right group, can 'aid' the Orgs with their furious battle against the tide?

Groups like the ITA, DDD, MM and Save Taxis are needed to appease frustrated proactive cabbies.

Drivers need to know something is being done.

The LCDC, UCG and RMT are working hard behind the scenes.

The LTDA are working hard behind our backs.

Unite the Union seem to have no problem with TfL's performance at all.

And as far as Demos go, they need to be called by the likes of the DDD or the ITA.

And they need supporting, by Taxi drivers like you.

Remember these groups get nothing out of it, dipping into their own pockets and losing plenty of work hours, except the feeling that they are actually 'doing' something.

Unfortunately, although most journalists seem to be on our side, the news proprietors are not.

The media has been bought and sold.

We must cause disruption, in order to get noticed.

If we play by their rules, they will always win.

As for disrupting the hard working Londoner; public opinion carries only so much weight.

Ask the miners, or the printers, or the firemen risking their lives for us, if they felt public opinion held any sway.

Most of what we 'know' is manufactured by the bought and paid for press.

I hear drivers say things like, "Demos don't work." No, they won't unless you get up off your apathetic arse and join one!

Or excuses like, "I've done my bit." What? Are you retired now? This is not relay race. This is a race to the finish!

Recently a driver asked, "Tell me one thing a demo has achieved." The Poll Tax demo – it also brought down the Government.

The ITA is going to do a flyer and bill posting campaign to inform drivers and the public.

On many demos, less than one percent of passers-by stop to ask, "What's this about?"

The DDD use placards and banners to get their message across.

Banners and placards inform 'every' passer-by; except Uber drivers - they no understand.

I was on a demo a year or two ago, where we told every media outlet who would listen, it was about Transport for London being unfit for purpose.

The press propaganda machine told everyone the protest was about competition from Uber.

Flyers, posters, placards and banners, get filmed and photographed.

We just have to keep chipping away, like Andy Dufresne.

Never giving up, never giving in.

We will be on the mass ply-for-hire, on 3 October.

We hope to see you there too.

The Licensed London Taxi - the hub of London

ITA ON CREDIT CARD CHAOS

The ITA on TfL's CC mandate

The ITA believes that TfL's card machine fiasco is a scam.

A scam backed by credit card companies and groups with vested interests in the deregulation of minicabs, and the demise of the Taxi.

Steve McNamara has to hold his hands up and publicly announced he was wrong to agree to such a toxic mandate.

Isabel Dedring is gone, but not forgotten.

The old TfL Board, which was infested with privateers, has been dispersed. We have a new TfL Board now.

The unctuous former Mayor of London has been given the task of cocking-up Britain's relationship with the rest of the world.

Most of the people who agreed upon this current TfL Credit Card Mandate are gone.

So please do not use the term 'set in stone', to fob us off.

The trade needs every Taxi Organisation to demand a rethink.

Taxi drivers are sick and tired of their Orgs doing nothing, but accepting the 'inevitable'.

We need to hear that the Orgs are willing to take to the streets, if need be.

We need the Orgs to publicly state that they believe the current TfL Credit Card Mandate scam is ill thought out and potentially dangerous.

We need the Orgs to state they accept the TfL Credit Card Mandate is unworkable.

We need the Orgs to state they recognise the law of the land over the misguided and unworkable mandate TfLTPH have concocted.

We need the Orgs to listen to their members.

The ITA wants card machines to be a mandatory piece of equipment for Taxis.

The ITA believes the fixed machine in the back of a cab should not be compulsory.

The ITA believes the choice of equipment should be that of the Taxi driver, not of the regulatory body.

The ITA believes the Taxi driver should be able to shop around for a card machine, and not have to sign expensive contracts.

When we revert back to the original reason behind the need for a card machine mandate, we come to a singularity; the need for taxis to accept credit and debit card payments.

All was well until the greedy people got wind of it, and realised they could earn some easy money off the backs of hard working Taxi drivers.

Whist PH minicab drivers can saunter around London, untouchable, breaking the law, and terrorising the public; Taxi drivers are being regulated by undemocratic, illegal and draconian methods, threatening their livelihoods and revocation of their licenses. 

This has to stop!

The iconic London Taxi

It is time the Orgs got together and publicly announced their intention of a unified mass disobedience, and ignored the mandate.

Demanding that TfL and all the Orgs returned to the negotiating table and redressed this unmitigated sham.

If your Org refuses to act upon this manufactured travesty, leave them.

There are plenty of good Orgs out there who will welcome you with open arms.

by the Independent Taxi Alliance

(Nunquam redono nunquam deditionem)

Note:

The Independent Taxi Alliance is a driver led organisation of Licensed London Taxi drivers, from all Orgs and Unions, united in a common cause.

The ITA is a proactive group of drivers from DDD, MM, LCDC, RMT, UCG, Unite, LTDA and non affiliates.

We ask no fee or subs.

And we support all Orgs and Unions, favouring none above any other.

All members are expected to demonstrate, protest or use civil disobedience in the fight for justice.

The ITA motto: 'Nunquam redono, nunquam deditionem', means 'Never give up, never surrender'.