THREE CARD TRICK

ENGLISH MY ENGLISH

Who cares about the Language Test?

Why would I possibly care if a two-bit outfit can communicate with its unprincipled punters?

You pay peanuts, you get monkeys talking jibberish.

Who cares about the 'advanced' Driving Test?

All that is needed, to make London's roads safer, is a proper pass of the DVLA test.

What London needs, and the Motor Insurance Bureau is surely crying out for, is a British Standard of driving.

This dangerous, yet common practice of trading in a foreign, and often inferior, driving licence for a UK license, must cease immediately.

Surely the very least HM Government, the Mayor of London and Transport for London should be demanding is a consistent standard of driving in the UK.

The Language Tests and the Driving Tests will turn into farce, just like the infamous Medical Tests, and the dubious DBS checks.

Drivers' Medical Tests are of greater importance, and look what has happened to those.

The DBS is of greater importance, and look what has happened to those.

The fact that London may have dangerous, unhealthy Private Hire drivers ferrying children and vulnerable passengers around our once great city, seems of no concern to HM Government, the Mayor of London or Transport for London. For there has been no recall of drivers or insistence upon drivers to retake their medicals, after the 'Medicals for Sale' scam hit the headlines.

I wonder how many of those, all too frequent, PH crashes in London have been caused by an unhealthy or sick driver?

As for DBS checks, Brian Rix could not have written the script more farcical; letters of good conduct from strangers, to strangers, about strangers. No wonder we have strangers driving minicabs.

London needs proper background checks of at least 5 years UK residency. I am sure Mayor Sadiq Khan empty-promised as much.

These strangers are in a car alone with children and vulnerable people, for crying out loud!

Londoners and the media are being blinded by poxy English tests and penny ha'penny driving tests; all of which will come out of the drivers' pockets, not their employers.

Yet these Mickey Mouse tests will help legitimise toxic work models like Uber. The public will be fed crap about advanced driving tests and high standards of communication.

While nothing is being done about dangerous strangers driving minicabs around the dark streets of London, and beyond.

KEEP LONDON SAFE!

THEY SHALL NOT PASS!

IS SADIQ KHAN NOT A HUMAN RIGHTS LAWYER?

I have heard rumblings that some people do not agree with Sean Driving Abaht, aka Sean Stockings. Some people do not like the LCDC. Some people do not like Grant Davis. It seems there are quite a few cliquey people about in this trade.

To be honest, personally, and I believe I am speaking on behalf of the entire DDD when I say; we do not have to like a Taxi driver or Org to stand up for them or their rights.

How much do you have to not like someone, to allow them to lose their license or their home? Have their house repossessed. Get divorced due to pressures brought on by a bullying company. And forced into part time parenthood. How much must you dislike someone, to wish that upon them?

I don't care if they are a member of the LCDC, the LTDA, Unite, the RMT or the UCG. I really do not care which Org or Union they belong to, if any.

What I do care about is if any Green or Yellow badge Licensed London Taxi Driver gets hounded by a band of dodgy characters in TfL. Dodgy characters who are trying to hang them out to dry, and take their livelihood from them for exercising their freedom of speech.

Reams of people retweeted and enjoyed the video, Sean filmed. Even those who did not agree with it, must have liked seeing the architects of our demise look so uncomfortable for a few precious seconds, I know I did.

Everyone should have the freedom to say what they like on Twitter, unless it is overtly bigoted or harmful.

If Leon Daniels has got a problem with Sean Stocking, then he should take him to court, siting libel.

Let Daniels pay out of his own bulging pocket, not TfL's pocket, not the taxpayer's pocket, not the fare payer's pockets. Let him pay out of his own pocket if he does not like it, or thinks what is being said is wrong.

Bare in mind this is about a Taxi driver. Forget the name. Forget the Org. He is a Taxi driver. Remember this; it could be me or you.

If you do not stand up for an individual Taxi driver, who is getting his livelihood taken away from him for something as mundane as speaking up or speaking out, then you need your head examined.

We are not standing up for a murderer, or a kiddie fiddler. We are standing up for someone who may have been rude, or obtuse or even irreverent. None of which makes him an unfit or improper person.

I do not care who it is. If Steve McNamara still had his badge, and was being railroaded by our common enemy TfL, I would stand shoulder to shoulder with him and fight.

If you have a badge, you have earned it. Do not let TfL take it because they do not like you, or what you say!

If TfL are successful, that will set a disgraceful, Orwellian precedent.

Anyone who hides behind some made up insipid excuse not to support Sean in his fight against this tyrannical regime, is a worthless and pointless wast of space.

And any leader of any Org or Union who would stand motionless and allow a fellow Taxi driver lose his bill, should be stripped of their leadership - for they do not deserve such a fraudulent title.

Are they on the side of TfL? Or are they on the side of the Taxi driver?

We have drawn a line in the sand. Do not step over it and join the enemy. Stand with us!

Join us and stop TfL crossing it!

OUR LOSS

DADS DEFENDING DAUGHTERS BIDS FAREWELL TO ITS FAVOURITE SON

We wish Jimmy Thomas all the very best in his retirement from Taxi Leaks.

It is a sad day for the Taxi Trade, who will miss his well informed writings.

Transport for London must be having a party, celebrating the news that one of the very few people who exposed exactly what they were up to, is hanging up his pen and going to spend more time with his family.

How Jim kept Taxi Leaks going, seven days a week, sometimes three articles a day, only he knows.

People of a certain age will remember 'The Magic Boomerang' - that is my theory.

I do not want this to sound like an obituary, but in a way it is, as far as the Taxi Trade is concerned.

I met Jim about twenty years ago in the Warwick Avenue Cab Shelter.

Freddie Jones, Micky Traynor, Ossie and I would light up when Jim came in. He had a cheeky smile and saw humour in most things. Quick witted and smart, with a warm personality.
But when it came to some of Taxi Leaks exposés or opinions, he ruffled some uncomfortable feathers.

Sir Winston Churchill once said, "You have enemies? Good. That means you've stood up for something, sometime in your life."

Jim made enemies, but they were enemies of the Taxi Trade. They saw Jim as a threat. And indeed he was.

I believe if Taxi Leaks was a weekly printed publication, our trade would not be in the trouble it finds itself now.

So goodbye Taxi Leaks.
Enjoy your extra time with your loved ones, Jim. You remain an active member of Dads Defending Daughters, the Mayfair Mob, the Independent Taxi Alliance, and friend to the Taxi fraternity.

It is a personal pleasure to know you, Jim.

As my Mum once said of Ossie, I will say of you, "That man has no equal."

Georgie Vyce and Jimmy Thomas during a DDD protest.

Below is James Charles Thomas's article:

And Finally, It's Goodnight From Me...And It's Goodnight From Him... Jim Thomas

You get nothing in this life given to you on a plate. That's why you did the knowledge. You had to work and fight for that badge.

Now most drivers just sit back and do nothing but complain that no one is fighting for them.

It's no good blaming the orgs because when they've called mass demos, they've been lucky to see 20% of drivers turn up.

When Action4Cabbies asked for £20 donations...only 4,000 out of 22,000 pledge money.

Drivers complain about the LTDA and yet when asked to go to a branch meeting and vote new life into the org, only 50 drivers out of 10,000 showed up. 

Every night I see drivers sitting behind touts on our ranks, young fit drivers who do and say nothing. 

You've allowed small groups of individuals to take full advantage of your apathy, credit card companies and An App company have stuck their greedy fingers into your money bags and are helping themselves to part of your earning, and you say nothing. 

Drivers who have never complained face to face with their org reps, now think it's a great time to join in with the enemy Union, chaired by a man who rides round reporting Taxis for over ranking and who wanted to drive an AddVan through London advertising the exploits of John Worboys 

And now it's nearly all over, they say "stop with the gloom and doom" while sleep walking into a one tier system that is most certainly coming.

I predicted years ago that when the end battle came, all our leaders would have left the battlefield....I was wrong, it's the army who are deserting....

Well good night from me and God bless, it's all yours.

            ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

First they licensed Uber, and I did not speak out—
Because I was working.

Then the Trade Unionists and Taxi orgs called a mass demo, and I did not go—
Because it was busy and I had to work.

Then, after realising our largest org was doing nothing, two drivers stood up shouting and rebellious...but they were expelled—I did and said nothing, just carried on working.

Then they asked for members to go to a branch meeting to vote against Judas and his WAGs — but I didn't go as I was working 

When they finally took my Badge and Bill and handed it to an Uber driver— there was no one left to fight for me.