DADS DEFENDING DAUGHTERS IS STEPPING DOWN -
OUR WORK HERE IS DONE
At first, we doubted the math; surely it
could not be so disturbingly high.
It was inconceivable that the rate of
attacks for just one year in London
The realisation of what was news to us, was
not news to Transport for London
TfL and Uber were prepared to allow this
outrage to continue, as long as they could keep the truth from getting out.
The more we delved into the facts, the more
it was apparent that TfL and Uber facilitated these heinous crimes, by relaxing
regulation and disregarding safety.
Theo Usherwood showed us that obtaining a
license to drive a minicab had become as easy as buying a second hand car.
Getting the Suzy Lamplugh Trust and other
rape crisis groups involved, proved futile. They seemed enthusiastic, until
they realised it might affect their funding.
We were determined to get the message out
into the public domain.
In this we have succeeded. If you live in Southampton , Sunderland or Strathclyde, you
know that riding in an Uber is a very dangerous business.
TfL and Uber are equally to blame - they
facilitated each other in cutting corners to save pennies.
The collateral damage caused by
deregulation and blatant flouting of the law, is the number of unsuspecting
victims growing by fifty percent per year.
Now the public are informed. Now they can
make their own minds up. Now it is up to the individual if they wish to gamble
with their lives for cheap.
There is nothing more DDD can do to help them.
They can no longer plead ignorance.
In the early days of DDD , Val Shawcross questioned
our motives; pointing her nose towards protectionism. But that says more about
Val Shawcross, than it does about us.
Uber scares people. Uber's money and
influence keeps justice at bay and the media in line.
Greyball is a big deal. Its potential is
mind boggling. No one wants to get too involved in outing Greyball, in case
they get a visit from the men in grey suits and taken for a long walk off a
short pier.
Our aim was true and our focus was clear.
Get the message out.
We now have the current Prime Minister,
Theresa May breaking legal protocol during an ongoing case, and siding with
Uber. Siding with a company that refused to assist the police in preventing a
rapist from committing a further assault.
Siding with a company which pays next to no
tax.
Siding with a company that produced
Greyball, amongst other systems; that can hide anything and everything from the
police and authorities, including Uber assaults and terrorist activities, and
can monitor everything we do, including the police and authorities.
Siding with a company who, during their
five year license, refused to let the Regulator see how the Uber app works.
This is no longer news; this is out there
in the public eye.
When the Prime Minister is prompted by Uber
investors, to plead for Uber's reprieve on national television, I think we can
safely say that everyone knows about Uber and their noxious activities now.
The Conservative Party has thrown off its
diaphanous veil of respectability and come out all guns blazing, to fight on
Uber's behalf.
As puppet politicians played down rape
statistics and sharp practices, Uber was busy illegally rigging an opinion poll
set up by themselves, via their toxic software.
They cannot help themselves; just like the
scorpion, it is who they are.
The honesty of Caroline Pidgeon was
refreshing in this day and age of Machiavellian politics. She was never pro or
anti Taxi - she was fair-minded and true to her word.
The support we received from Wes Streeting
and David Kurten was also extremely uplifting.
We pulled a disastrous nose-diving UCG
protest from the jaws of defeat, marching from Broadcasting House, down St
Martins to cheers and applause from a dejected group gathered in Trafalgar Square
We closed St Pancras Station for a week,
forcing Camden Council to change the structure of their dangerous and
unworkable set-down area.
We demoed Bank Junction for a week. The
police had no idea what we would do next. They even sectioned us - a lot of
good that did them. We had the police turn up to an empty Bank, while we
gathered at Parliament Square London
We demoed Parliament Square
We turned up outside Tobacco Dock for the
Evening Standard Awards. Advertisers do not like being associated with rape and
corruption - that bog-roll stopped promoting Uber for a while after that - due
most likely to pressure from commercial customers - and odds on favourites Uber
failed to win their award. Uber are not up for an award this year, even though
their immoral lobbyist, who works for one of Uber's biggest investors, is
editor of the freebie rag.
We saved the LTDA's bacon, when Steve
McNamara called a protest outside the Evening Standard, for George Osborne's
first day as editor, and no one turned up; until a few hundred DDD marched along
Kensington Gore to Derry
Street Woodfield Road
We were pleased to assist the ever
proactive LCDC with their Dodgy Doctors protest outside 240 Blackfriars Road
And we were honoured to be part of the
GMB/LCDC Brighton experiment, which showed how cross-border hiring and instant
hail worked to the detriment of everyone except the profiteers.
We stormed the BBC , demoed Conservative
Party HQ, the Houses of Parliament, Downing Street , Windsor London
We marched many a merry protest and drove a
few drive-ins too.
The police were very accommodating and
understanding, it must be said.
We had a hugely successful 'Christmas
Warning' poster campaign. There are still a few thousand about London
We never took a penny from any
organisation, remaining independent and self sufficient.
Our whole raison d'etre was to get the
message out and inform the public. And we did just that. Now every man and his
dog know.
We planned our protests with every
conceivable outcome; we rode our luck and were successful in each and every one
of them.
We got Orgs, Unions and representatives to
various negotiating tables - how they did once we got them there, was beyond
our control.
Closing a mainline station or a huge hub of
a junction for a week had never done before, and will never be done again.
We have absolute respect and gratitude to
the ten percent of London
We offer nothing more than our complete and
utter disdain to the ninety percent apathetic sleepwalkers who excuse
themselves from involvement with asinine excuses, and spurious motives.
We have always stated we would rather fight alongside ten who
cared, than a thousand who would rather be somewhere else.
Cameron, Osborne, Javid and May are
responsible for far too many vulnerable people being maimed or attacked, all
because their mates have vested interests in a Ponzi scheme that makes Enron
look like a 'Three-card Monte'.
How cheaply those Tory yellow dogs hold our
lives, hey?
With Daniels retiring, Blake and Chapman jumping ship before this year's end, I think we can safely say TfL are doing
some overdue Spring-cleaning.
As with all unscrupulous businesses when
they get found out, they put a few new faces up to hide the corruption and
incompetence that will continue behind a refurbished facade. It is exactly
what Uber have done too.
We did our best and we achieved all we set
out to do.
Those who came along for the ride know the
truth, what we did, why we did it, and how it was achieved.
We came across quite a bit of resentment
from different Orgs and egos along the way. So now when Uber gets its license,
and it will, ask your Org or Union "What are you going to do about it?"
Undefeated and unbowed we now step from the arena.
Footnote:
The band of brothers who are Dads Defending Daughters, remain one family.
We stay together as one; ready for anything.
