AD UNUM OMNES

IN THE COLD LIGHT OF DAY

The day the few proactive members of this trade brought down Uber, the DDD and their likeminded friends went out and celebrated in the Prince of Wales.

United we stand - Taxi drivers who are prepared to fight.

But UberExit has gone sour. The exact same way Brexit has.

The victors have been royally screwed.

The refusal by TfL (Transport for London) to issue Uber a license, is no more than a ruse.

A ruse to cover up the fact that Uber conspired with TfL to destroy their competition; the Taxi and Private Hire industry.

Sadiq Khan is a holographic metaphor of a London Mayor.

If he isn't taking selfies with every living person on the planet (bar Trump of course), he's promising affordable housing to millionaires.

Khan is very good at shutting down police stations, but has no appetite for taking on huge companies – who continue to walk all over him.

"All right, Mr. DeMille, I'm ready for my close-up."

It is now considered that Khan is a worse mayor than the infamous Boris Johnson.

At least Boris spoke out against Uber. That is until he was bought-out and reined-in by Uber flunkies; Cameron, Osborne and Javid.

"Politics and crime, they are the same thing."

The only time you will hear Khan utter the 'U' word, is in reply to Caroline Pidgeon or David Kurten during Mayor's Questions.

Sadiq Khan and TfL stand by and allow Uber to fleece Londoners and visitors to London every single day.

Hundreds of thousands of Uber passengers are being ripped off via surge pricing.

Uber drivers are scamming thousands of Uber customers daily, by purposefully cancelling a job and collecting the five pound 'scrub' fee.

Why do Khan and TfL allow this to continue?

Because we don't matter, and they don't care.

The Conservative Party has nailed its colours to Uber's mast.

Not only has most Tory MP's lobbied in favour of Uber. The Party itself campaigned for this criminally complicit company to be relicensed.

The Tories even went on to compound their obvious admission of wholesale bribery, by having leaflets printed up to plead Uber's defence.

Was it Theresa or Dara who paid for those flyers?

Wes Streeting MP has campaigned on behalf of all Taxi and Private Hire drivers, who have been unwitting victims of a TfL and Uber attempted takeover.

Tom Watson MP has shown great concern and interest in Uber's illegal coup d'etat.

Unfortunately our unions have been slow in coming to our rescue.

Is it because Taxi and PH branches are too small?

Or is it because London has a Labour Mayor, and the unions cannot find a compromise between taking down TfL and embarrassing our ineffectual mayor?

Sadiq Khan’s apathy is ultimately losing votes by the ton for Labour in London.

Oil and water - Khan is a die hard Blairite.

Uber's new CEO, Dara Khosrowshahi, apologised to TfL’s Mike Brown, and vicariously to Khan, for all the rapes and sexual assaults, for all the thievery, for the refusal to help police with a sexual assault inquiry culminating in the Uber driver reoffending, for the hacking of customer accounts, for the attempted deformation of a rape victim's character, for all of Uber's institutionalised sexual discrimination and lechery, for Greyball, for all of Uber's bribery and corruption, internet theft and industrial espionage, for hacking their own drivers' phones, for their fake insurance certificates, for the fraudulent DBS background checks, for the bogus medical tests, he was even kind enough to apologised for Uber terrorists and murderers.

Brown and Khan feel that the hands on confession by such an important and influential man, is enough for them to reconsider Uber's Operator's License application.

Dara Khosrowshahi and the beatification of Uber.

It is a shame that our very own Sean Stockings wasn't as important or as influential as Uber's 'born again' CEO. If he was, he might have been allowed to work whilst his appeal was being considered.

Mike Brown - Commissioner of Transport for London.

Uber are allowed to continue unlicensed for as many years as it takes for them to 'Masada' the Taxi trade.

Mind you, Uber didn't film TfL staff - including Leon Daniels and Mike Brown, eating in a public place, whilst doorstepping them on issues such as the Croydon tram crash - as Sean Stockings did.

I recently read the victims and their families are still awaiting compensation, over a year on.

Sean has been denied his human right to work, by Mike Brown.
And Leon Daniels, incensed that Sean might win his appeal, has logged another statement and complaint. Daniels is insistent that Stockings will never drive a Taxi ever again.

Leon Daniels - Managing Director, Surface Transport.

No I didn't forget Uber's Hackgate.

And neither did Dara. He decided to keep that information from Brown and Khan. Much the same way he kept it from the FBI and the fifty seven million Uber customers and drivers who were victims of this crime.

So much for contrition, hey?

The real enemy of Licensed London Taxi drivers and legitimate Private Hire drivers, is TfL.

TfL are guilty of misfeasance in public office, and corruption.

TfL licensed Uber in 2012, knowing that the app transgressed all TPH regulation.

In laymen's terms, the app facilitated the act of putting the potential passenger in direct contact with the prospective driver, bypassing the Operator.

No Uber PH driver possesses an Operator's License.

Therefore TfL and Uber not only facilitated a crime, but they profited from it too.

The Licensed London Taxi trade has a strong case against TfL for misfeasance and grave malfeasance.

Uber have admitted on oath and in public that their app puts the passenger in direct contact with the driver.

TfL have lied to the GLA; using made up terms to try and qualify their illegal decision to license Uber.

It is not about instant hail or nano pre-bookings - time is irrelevant.

The order in which the process is administered, is the key factor - Uber back-fills, after the event.

TfL's mafioso ethics are closely related to Sepp Blatter's FIFA.

TfL cannot plead ignorance.

Ignorance is not a defence.

TfL are our government appointed regulator.

TfL not only colluded in this illegality. They actively changed regulations to fit Uber's work model.

TfL and Uber really are partners in every sense.

Our unions seem reticent about their lack of will to do anything proactive against TfL.

And our Orgs do not have the muscle.

We can propose a Judicial Review and cite ourselves an "interested party". But as our flaccid mayor pointed out, Uber could drag this appeal out for another four years, and still carry on regardless.

Most proactive individuals in this fine trade see our path as an obvious one.

We need to take out a Group Litigation (Class Action).

It is not difficult to prove TfL's collusion. Uber have done most of our work for us.

Compensation can be across the board.

TfL are guilty. The trade should seek recompense.

Drivers have suffered a huge drop in available work, due to TfL's illegal policy.
To overcome a complete loss of income, drivers have been forced to endure physical and mental torture by having to work slavish and ungodly hours to make ends meet.

Drivers have also suffered emotional stress, caused by TfL's inaction to regulate correctly and their conspiracy to decimate our trade.

The Taxi trade must claim for damages and remuneration, as a 'Group Litigation'.

TfLTPH's misfeasance, and malfeasance by some individuals at TfL, has cost drivers money, their mental health, their marriages, their homes, and even their lives.

It doesn't matter which union a driver belongs to or what organisation they're affiliated to.

TfL either pays us out or pays us off.

WE DEMAND JUSTICE!

JOB DONE

DADS DEFENDING DAUGHTERS IS STEPPING DOWN -

OUR WORK HERE IS DONE

DDD was born because, as Licensed London Taxi drivers, we became aware of a Freedom of Information statistic which showed just how prevalent rape and sexual assaults were in minicabs.

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 alone was 154 reported.

The realisation of what was news to us, was not news to Transport for London (TfL) or Uber, was devastating.

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.

DDD can look back to some great demos. Winning every single time.

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 about to give up the ghost.

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. We had the police closing off roads and roundabouts, searching for us, trying to second guess us, whilst we sat in the warmth having dinner - we even sent them a photo of us eating fish and chips, while they speed around London with helicopters in the air, in search of our next gathering point.

We demoed Parliament Square on the morning after Brexit, for maximum media effect.

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, complete with placards and banners. McNamara called Woodfield Road for reinforcements, about six LTDA members turned up.

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 and Palestra Houses, closed the City and huge chunks of 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, educating the public.

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.

DDD congratulates everyone who stood shoulder to shoulder with us. By attending our demos you became DDD members.

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's proactive finest.

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.

UBER FINALLY DEEMED UNFIT

"GET THE FUCK OUT OF DODGE!"

As some of us thought and all of us hoped, Transport for London (TfL) has rejected Uber's license application, so let us all rejoice.

Rejoice, but do not think this is the end and we can all go back to our little houses on the prairie.

The rape app will gain a license from Wolverhampton or the like. And Uber scabs will still be touting in London.

The double-edged sword named Prius, especially white, will still be a beacon for fans of black marketers. But they will also stick out like a sore thumb to police patrols and CCTV.

We still have the toxic problem of redressing Cross Bordering, caused by Dame Susan Kramer aiding and abetting AddLee to do away with pesky safety regulations.

We also have to educate ministers and lawyers alike, that direct e-hailing is plying for hire. Virtual P4H is actual P4H. An app is no different to a birdwatcher's binoculars.

TfL was unable to do the ungodly and license Uber, because there would have been outrage and condemnation across the political spectrum. It would have triggered the beginning of the end for TfL as a viable regulatory entity.

The time has come for TfL to earn their six figure salaries. The spotlight is shining on them and their inappropriate incestuous relationship with UberLL.

I believe Uber are finished anyway. People are already trickling back to Taxis and legit PH.

New start-ups will hit the transport system. But as we saw with Taxify, they just nick a piece of the market that Uber spent billions on cornering. It will be the same unchecked drivers, same clueless passengers, with a different rape app.

Under Cameron and Osborne's kleptocratic ideology of neoliberal thievery, the good people of Great Britain witnessed cruel unwarranted austerity, where consumerism became a religion, regulation was deemed a hate crime against commercialism, with oligarchs trying to scare us into remaining subservient to an EU dictatorship, and our NHS being starved into submission, so Richard Branson could ride into our depleted and demoralised hospitals and save our sick and sorry arses from dying on a trolley in some forgotten corridor of terminal hopelessness.

These privileged twins of plutocracy not only destroyed whole communities, but in the process, damaged the Tory Party beyond repair. We Brits have long memories, you bastards.

This trade's proactive minority has done great work on behalf of us all, lobbying, positively arguing, and educating the public, the media and politicians about Uber's toxic modus operandi.

Thanks to the time, effort and hard work of those 'active' members in the LCDC, LTDA, UCG, GMB and RMT, whose work behind to scenes goes largely unnoticed. Thanks to every single member of the DDD family who were willing to fight every fight, risking their bill every time they took to the streets.

We, as a trade, are a wounded lion surrounded by a pack of jackals, but I know who my money is on.

I think it is safe to say, there will be a lot of smiling cabbies in London today.

Be lucky.

TAXI LIVES MATTER TOO!

MY PERSONAL OPINION ON GMB'S 'UBER WORKERS' CASE.

The bottom line is why should I be expected to give a toss about an Uber scab?

They are scabs in the same sense that those at Wapping were scabs.

I expect my GMB to fight for my job.

I expect my GMB to bring Uber's horrific rape stats into the public domain. Let us not forget, GMB's legitimate PH members are being tarnished too.

When objecting to Uber's license, I expect my GMB to consider the fact that Uber conspired to hide sexual offences from the police. And to acknowledge that Uber are absolutely unfit to hold an Operators License.

I expect my GMB to publicly acknowledge that, by Uber’s own wilful admission, they are a disruptive start-up company.

I do not expect my GMB to call for Uber to change, whilst still trading. No other company is given this preferential treatment.

The Mayor, the GMB, any MP, the GLA or any Uber apologist cannot claim to be protecting jobs, when excusing the toxicity of Uber.

Uber are destroying an existing workforce. Most Uber drivers work for other PH companies too. Many Uber drivers are part time.

Many Uber drivers are on benefits - therefore our taxes are subsidising Uber's business model.

Supporting Uber, is supporting a Right Wing ideology of exploitation to undermine an existing workforce, and to ultimately drive down wages.

I expect my GMB to put public Health & Safety first and foremost.

The fact that Transport for London (TfL) are allowing over thirteen thousand unchecked strangers to ferry our children, the vulnerable, the elderly, wives and mothers around without a proper Enhanced DBS, is scandalous.

I understand bringing the Uber workers case does hamper Uber's progress. It hits them financially.

This brings significant ramifications to both Uber's VAT case and its Status case in the European Court of Justice.

These cases may hurt Uber, but we must hear loud and clear condemnation about the assaults and road traffic accidents. People matter!

I would love to see Uber lose their London license; mainly because it will send a negative Uber message around the world.

But in reality, Uber will still be here, London license or not.

I would love to see Uber die of starvation.

But that is not going to happen, is it.

The reality of the situation is; we cannot kill Uber!

But we can fight TfL tooth and nail to make them follow their legal requirements.

At the moment, existing legislation and regulation is already in place to make Uber toe the line and become no more than a money haemorrhaging, poor-man's AddLee.

TfL are failing dismally to police Uber.

What we demand is for TfL to do their job, and enforce regulation in a fair and even manner.

Without TfL, Uber are dead in the water.

TfL's new Operators License Fee is a glaringly obvious attempt to extort money and smash small operators.

TfL's bias in favour of everything Uber, is sickeningly real.

Our fight is with TfL.

I expect my GMB to be part of this fight.

If Mayor Khan and TfL are not willing to listen to any member of the Greater London Authority (GLA), who voted unanimously to dismiss Uber's application for a license, there must be something wrong.

And a difficult, but undeniably pertinent question would be left begging; what is the point of the GLA?

Sadiq Khan and TfL's upper management continually refuse to acknowledge the Metropolitan Police's recommendations about Uber, or even consider their advice that Uber is a danger to the public.
Maybe Khan should disband the Met and employ his own private army of Compliance Officers to police the streets of London, and mop up after Uber's carnage.

Freedom is never given - it is only ever won.

IGNORANCE IS NOT BLISS. IT’S BLOODY WORRYING!

IS THIS THE HIGHLY TRAINED STAFF, MAYOR KHAN PROMISED?

A Licensed London Taxi Driver rang 'TfLTPH Directorate' twice, to find out if accepting an App job, outside of his licensed area, was legal.

The conversations which transpired between the driver and TfL staff are jaw-droppingly outrageous.
The first TfLTPH assistant showed the geographical ignorance of an Infant School pupil.
The second TfLTPH staff member showed such profound regulatory ignorance, the driver would have been better off ringing up his local pizza parlour for information.

I blame Transport for London.
TfLTPH are placing untrained, uninformed staff members to man phones, which are supposed to inform Taxi and Private Hire drivers.
Now you know why TfLTPH never replies to our questions. Because they do not know the answers!

Mayor Khan, what the heck are you going to do about this unacceptable situation at TfL's Misinformation Bureau?

Below are the transcripts from both conversations.
I warn you; you will not know whether to laugh or cry.

CONVERSATION ONE:

TRANSCRIPT OF A TELEPHONE CONVERSATION, BETWEEN A TAXI DRIVER [TD] AND TFL TAXI AND PRIVATE HIRE DIRECTORATE [1TFL]. AT 14:04 ON 3 AUGUST 2017.

TfL: Taxi & Private Hire. 1TfL speaking. How can I help you?

TD: Good afternoon 1TfL. I’m wondering if you can help me.

TfL: Yep, how can I help you?

TD: I’m a London Taxi driver and I’m looking for some information. I’ve asked TfL’s Helen Chapman the General Manager, via email three times, but she hasn’t replied to my emails. She must be very busy.

TfL: I don’t think you’ll get a response from Helen Chapman. What was the query in relation to, sir? What was the query in relation to?

TD: I’m outside of London Stansted Airport, in Essex.

TfL: OK.

TD: And I’ve been given an App job, by one of the taxi apps. Can I accept that booking? I’m outside London, I live near Stansted.

TfL: Are you a Private Hire Driver?

TD: No, I just said I’m a Taxi Driver.

TfL: Ah, alright. So you’re a Black Cab driver and you’ve got a booking through an app?

TD: It’s just come through to me. Can I accept that job on the App?

TfL: Alright.

TD: Can I accept the job?

TfL: It came through to you. You’ve got to collect the customer, yeah?

TD: Yeah, I’m in Stansted now, I leave near Stansted Airport.

TfL: Okay, let me just double check for you. Give me one moment please.

ON HOLD - MUSIC PLAYING

TfL: Hello there. Um yeah, I’ve just spoken to my Team Leader. That should be fine, as long as you’re on an App, you’ll be fine. And should be able to pick the passenger up.

TD: As long as I’m a what, sorry?

TfL: As long as you’ve got confirmation, the booking should be fine.

TD: So, I can work anywhere in the country on an app?

TfL: No, no sir. It’s not like that Sir. It’s obviously is in London.

TD: Stansted Airport is thirty five miles outside of London.

TfL: It’s alright, if your booking is from London, you can collect that person and bring them back to London.

TD: What do you mean, if the booking is from London?

TfL: A booking has to be taken from London. Where’s the booking taken from? Is it from London?

TD: I don’t know. You asked me. I’ll ask you the question; where is the booking taken?

TfL: Well, the company you’re with, where are they located? Where are they based? Are they based in London?

TD: They don’t have an Operator’s Licence, to accept a booking, sir.

TfL: Alright, hold the line a second for me, please.

TD: It’s MyTaxi.

TfL: Okay.

TD: They don’t have an Operator’s Licence. They are not a Private Hire Operator. They are an App intermediary, an App company.

TfL: Okay.

TD: I’m sitting at Stansted Airport. I’m sitting outside Stansted Airport now.

TfL: Okay.

TD: And it keeps offering me an App job booking. ‘Phyllis’ came up. She wanted a Taxi back to Southampton. I want to know if I can accept that booking, legally.

TfL: Let me have a look.

ON HOLD - MUSIC PLAYING

TfL: Hello Sir, yeah, I’ve just spoken to my colleague and yeah, because Stansted is part of Greater London, you can actually take that booking.

TD: Because Stansted is part of Greater London I can accept that booking?

TfL: Yeah, you can.

TD: Okay, have they moved Stansted into Greater London?

TfL: I’m no too sure.

TD: Because Stansted is in Essex.

TfL: It’s okay. It is part of Greater London, sir. So it should be fine.

TD: It’s part of Greater London?

TfL: Yeah.

TD: Okay. Well thanks for that.

TfL: No worries.

TD: What if I was in Manchester, could I accept a booking there?

TfL: Umm, not from Manchester, no. It has to be from London or near London.

TD: Near London?

TfL: Yeah, it has to be within London or Greater London.

TD: Right, Greater London? Stansted isn’t Greater London though.

TfL: Okay, but it is part of London, it should be fine.

TD: Stansted is in Essex.

TfL: Sir, the name of it. It’s called London Stansted Airport.

TD: Right, okay. So I can take a booking from London Stansted Airport, as long as it’s got in ‘London’ in the name, I can take it?

TfL: Yeah.

TD: Okay. Does that mean I can take a booking from London Street, in Manchester?

TfL: No, it’s not what I’m saying. But obviously I’ve spoken to my colleague and …

TD: So, what your saying is that London Stansted is in Greater London?

TfL: What I advise you to do, sir - obviously in regards to Stansted you can, that should be fine - but in regards to any other queries you have, I would advise you to put that in writing.

TD: Okay.

TfL: I can give you an email address; where you can email us, and we can get someone get back to you, in relation to that.

TD: I have done; Helen Chapman.

TfL: Helen Chapman won’t get back to you, sir. I’ll have to give you a general email, and they’ll get back to you.

TD: I have done to Neil Hassett, as well.

TfL: Okay, let me give you a general email address. Okay let me give you an email address, and put it in writing to us, and they will definitely get back to you yea?!

TD: Okay yeah, fantastic. What’s the email, sir?

TfL: TPH.enquiries@tfl.gov.uk

TD: Okay, fantastic. I’ll send an email again. I’ll send you the same ones as I have been sending to Helen Chapman. Hopefully I’ll get an answer. Thank you for confirming London Stansted is in Greater London.

TfL: Yeah, Okay.

TD: Thanks for confirming that.

TfL: No worries. Good day, then.

Taxi Driver: Bye, bye. Bye

END

CONVERSATION TWO:

TRANSCRIPT OF A TELEPHONE CONVERSATION, BETWEEN A TAXI DRIVER [TD] AND TFL TAXI AND PRIVATE HIRE DIRECTORATE [2TFL]. AT 16:53 ON 3 AUGUST 2017.

TfL: Good afternoon, you’re through to London Taxi and Private Hire. You’re speaking with 2TfL, and how can I help you, today?

TD: Hello 2TfL. Was it 2TfL?

TfL: 2TfL

TD: 2TfL. Hello 2TfL. Yes, I wonder if you could. I spoke with a chap earlier on called 1TfL.

TfL: Okay.

TD: And I asked him a question, I’m a Taxi Driver, and I’ve spoken with the Trade Organisation that I’m in, as well, and they said give you a call, to verify a few things.

TfL: Okay.

TD: If I’m sitting at Stansted Airport.

TfL: Right.

TD: And an App job comes up on the phone. Can I accept that job? 1TfL seems to think I can

TfL: Yes, I believe, erm, if it’s being booked through the App, then yes, there shouldn’t be a problem. Why? Have you been advised otherwise?

TD: No, I can’t get an answer. So if I’m sitting anywhere in the country. If I’m in, I don’t know, Southampton or Brighton, or Manchester or Stockport, anywhere in the country. If the job comes through on the App, I can accept the job as a London Taxi Driver?

TfL: Alright, let me double check that. What type of licence do you have? Do you have, do you have an All London, or suburban?

TD: No, an All London Licence, a Green Badge.

TfL: All London, okay, alright. Just bear with me and let me double check that for you.

TD: Thank you.

TfL: No problem, right.

ON HOLD - MUSIC PLAYING

TfL: Hello?

TD: Hello, 2TfL.

TfL: Hello Sir. Thanks very much for your patience. Okay, so I’ve got clarification, and what I’ve been informed is; as long as it’s booked through the App you can take this booking. But of course, what comes into play is that you’ve got an All London Licence. As long as the booking was made from within London, then you are able to take that booking.

TD:  What does that mean? As long as it’s made in London?

TfL: So, say for instance, you … a booking was made in London to go to Sheffield, or something. Whilst you were in Sheffield, you had got another booking.

TD: Yep.

TfL: To come back into London, that booking would have had to have been made from London and requested from Sheffield. So the booking, the booking …

TD: Now I’m really confused.

TfL: Right, so any booking that you take.

TD: Yep.

TfL: Yep. Can only be made from within London.

TD What does that mean? “Made [from] within London.”?

TfL: It allows, so a booking made anywhere in London, you are able to go out of London with, okay. Say, if you picked up someone from London and they were going to Sheffield, yeah?

TD: Let’s forget London,. Let’s say, I’m in Sheffield.

TfL: Right.

Taxi Driver: Let’s say, I’m in Sheffield and I want to go to Southampton.

TfL: Right then, no I don’t believe you can do that, no.

TD: Why is that?

TfL: Because of the type of licence that you have.

TD: Why is that?

TfL: Because you have an All London Licence and not a Suburban Licence. So, that’s where the difference comes in. So, in terms of - you can take people out of London to wherever they want to go. But, say for instance if you’re coming … any booking that’s made in particular. Say you had just taken someone to Sheffield. Okay, so now …

2TFL HAS A BRIEF INTERNAL CONVERSATION

TD: Sorry, about that.

TfL: No Problem.

TD: Just getting back …

TfL: Okay.

TD: If I’m in Sheffield.

TfL: Yeah.

TD: and I get an App job.

TfL: Yeah.

TD: And it gives me an App job to Southampton.

TfL: Right.

TD: I can’t accept that?

TfL: No, you cannot.

TD: Right. Why not?

TfL: Because you have an All London Licence. You don’t have a Suburban Licence. If you had a Suburban Licence, I believe that gives you the ability to take jobs outside of London.

TD: Right

TfL: So, what I’m saying…..

Taxi Driver: Hold on, let me get this absolutely straight. If I was at Sheffield.

TfL: Yep.

TD: And I had a Suburban, Yellow Badge, Licence.

TfL: Yep.

TD: I could then take that person from Sheffield to Southampton?

TfL: That’s correct. Because that covers that specific area. Your licence only covers you for London. So, hence why I’m saying any booking you take have to be made from London. So you can go anywhere from London. And you can go anywhere to London. As long as the booking was made in London.

TD: Right. And what’s the difference between a Yellow Badge, Suburban Driver doing that? What’s the difference?

TfL: Because they have different rights, to work in different areas. You have All London. They have Suburban.

TD: And Sheffield? Is that covered under the Suburban Licence?

TfL: I believe so, yes.

TD: Right, okay. Well, this gets even more confusing. But thanks for your information.

TfL: No Problem.

TD: Thanks for your help.

TfL: We do understand that it’s a bit confusing. But as I say, as long as you accept a booking that’s made from London, you’ll be absolutely fine.

TD: I don’t understand what that means “As long as I accept a booking made from London.”. The person is at Sheffield Station. Sheffield being hundreds of miles away from London.

TfL: Yep.

TD: They open the MyTaxi App, they push the button, and I’m sitting outside Sheffield Station.

TfL: You won’t be able to take it, because the booking wasn’t made from London.

TD: If I was a Yellow Badge, I could take that job, yeah?

TfL: Yes, that’s correct.

Taxi Driver: Thank you.

TfL: No problem.

TD: I’ll let my Suburban colleagues know.

TfL: No problem. That’s absolutely fine, sir.

TD: Thank You. Goodbye.

TfL: Thank you. Take care.

TD: Bye, bye.

END

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