ABSOLUTE POWER

RACE TO THE BOTTOM

We are in the midst of a recession. "No shit, Sherlock."
This recession bitterly affects the working class.
For years now this recession has seen the rich get richer and the poor become enslaved.
Economists say, if you can see a city skyline full of cranes, there is no spare cash.
The wealthy have stuck everything into huge enterprises, and they need every bit of cash they can put their hands on; and that includes ours.


The new Mayor has an insurmountable task ahead of him.
London is no longer a desirable destination.
It is choking under extreme pollution. And its arteries are clogged with unnecessary Private Hire minicabs and empty Buses.
The Buses are empty because, like all vehicles, they cannot move on the ever shrinking, overpopulated roads.
Overpopulated because the previous Mayor refused to cap Transport for London's little earner (minicabs).
Who wants to sit on a bus, watching the world walk by?
And shrinking because the previous Mayor wanted to build a playground for bikes.
These spacious Cycle Super Highways are built, not for safety, but for speed. They are so big, Uber drivers often mistake them for roads.


Who in their right mind would come to a city voted the most congested in the world?
Where you are forced to pay tax (Congestion Charge) for the privilege of sitting in an ever increasing meander of single lane traffic, which was caused by the very same shysters who levy the very same tax.
Once you finally get to your destination, you are then expected to pay four pounds an hour to park.
No wonder people prefer to shop in Bluewater, Lakeside and anywhere else they can move freely without getting ripped off.
Yet the powers that be, think they can solve problems of overcrowding and pollution by pedestrianising areas like Oxford Street.
Really? And where do they think the inordinate amount of buses would go? The narrow backstreets of Britain's former shopping Mecca?
Is it now time for a London Mayor to stop listening to unelected quangos of self interested big businessmen and women, and listen to real Londoners?
Listening to Londoners who are at the sharp end of his decisions.

If you have not yet guessed, I am a Licensed London Taxi Driver. I openly admit my interests - unlike the conflicted board of TfL.
Like most Licensed London Taxi Drivers, I am not a Luddite. I have been accepting card payments for over a decade, on radio circuits and apps, long before Uber slithered into town.
The previous Mayor, Boris Johnson is a pathological liar. He lied to his wife, his employers, his constituents, the people of London, and his colleagues.
That man was born with a silver fork in his mouth.
He claimed he could not cap Private Hire minicab licenses, when it was well within his power to do so.
His open contempt for Taxis is well documented.
I have to laugh when I look back to when 'Luddite' Taxi drivers were vilified by the media for behaving "outrageously" during one of Johnson's pantomimes at City Hall.
Has no one witnessed the pack behaviour of our honourable Members of Parliament during PMQ?
It did not help matters when one of our trade bodies apologised on our behalf. For what? For witnessing first hand Johnson's contempt for the questions put by Val Shawcross and Caroline Pidgeon?
Or when a member of the public (not a Licensed London Taxi Driver) pushed a security guard over?
No I do not apologise for anything that day. In fact I look back on our 'off the cuff' ten mile march in the rain, with pride.
Too long now the Taxi trade's representatives have been cozying up to the very people who are deregulating our trade.


History tells us that greed and corruption has always been part of any system.
Good men get assassinated whilst bad men fake their own deaths.
Who would have thought, pre Savile, that the BBC was a corrupt government tool?
From distorting information about the Miners Strike to suppressing rape and sexual assault in TfL licensed Private Hire minicabs.
Who would have guessed that two young, seemingly clean cut, up and coming political lightweights, like Dave and his afterbirth George, would go on to out-Thatcher Thatcher, and out-brazen Blair?


"Power corrupts; absolute power corrupts absolutely."
We have a situation where the Prime Minister orders the Mayor of London, according to Boris Johnson, to "Leave Uber alone." And where the Chancellor of the Exchequer lobbies the Mayor, on behalf of Uber.
We have 10 and 11 Downing Street favouring Uber, an American company, based in the Netherlands, who pay no Corporate Tax, whose 'drivers' get Income Support from the British taxpayer. All at the expense of London's iconic Licensed Taxi trade, who pay their taxes and do everything asked of them. They study the Knowledge of London for four years, pass an advanced driving test, pass a rigorous medical examination, are vetted by the police, drive an expensive purpose built vehicle, and have their fares set by TfL.
Four average Taxi drivers pay more tax than Uber UK.

TfL have been coerced by the Butch & Sundance of Downing Street, to allow illegal and immoral practices to take place, in favour of a freeloading American company.

TfL's Managing Director; Leon Daniels spends his spare time - when he is not busy lying on Uber's behalf to the GLA about 'on-off' insurances and bogus landlines - coaching Jo Bertram; General Manager of Uber UK, on how to get around various stipulations and requirements.

Courts are being told that an instrument which measures time and distance, is not a meter. Then what is it?

TfL state that an App which acts like a virtual binoculars, showing minicabs on a street nearby, with a customer choosing a minicab from that street, is not hailing.
TfL also state that when the customer presses the button of their App to instantly 'hire' a minicab, it is not 'instant', but 'pre booked'.
Let me ask you this - if a man decides at exactly 10am, to set his alarm clock to go off at exactly 10am; is that preset?
The answer is, no. And neither is an Uber journey pre booked. It is an immediate hail.
The minicab driver accepts the job, and is instantly hired.

TfL are churning out seven hundred Private Hire licenses every week, to satisfy Uber's appetite.
TfL are licensing Private Hire minicab drivers, without a full background check. Applicants relatively new to Britain, are having allowances made for them.
Other countries, including European countries, do not keep certain records on their systems forever.
Common sense tells us we must be able to check someone's background, within our own system, for a minimum of five years. Especially when the applicant is left alone with vulnerable customers, such as children and lone females.
TfL's requirements for a Private Hire license, is not good enough for the citizens of this country.
Contrary to popular belief in Downing Street, we are not plebs, we are people. Our daughters, mothers, sisters and wives, deserve better.

From their first application to their passing of the Knowledge, their advanced driving test, and receiving the coveted Green Badge, the applicant is looking at the best part of five years before they are deemed fit be a London Taxi driver.
When the London Taxi driver renews his Bill (license) every three years, the DBS process takes around four months.
Yet a Private Hire Roundel can be acquired within a day.
By pumping out seven hundred Private Hire minicab licences a week, TfL cannot possibly be processing PH applications as stringently as Public Safety requires.

Our 'Owners' have always wanted more for themselves and less for us. Yet nowadays they cannot be asked to sugarcoat it.
What should do we do? Passively give in?
I firmly believe that in any fight, win or lose, hurt your opponent so badly, the bully will think twice before he comes back for more.
Uber bullies have all the money, the big name backers, professional lobbyists, and a huge amount of MPs in their pocket.
We have MPs calling, not for Uber to toe the public safety line, or to up its standards, but for Taxis to be deregulated and for our standards to drop, to meet the substandard Uber free-for-all.
Females are literally getting into a stranger's car, to satisfy investors' needs.
Big business and the media, especially the BBC, are turning a blind eye and deaf ear to the Private Hire minicab rape and sexual assault figures that have gone through the roof.
In essence, the money men do not care if our daughters are raped or abused, as long as their pockets are being stuffed with pieces of silver.
To 'bought and paid' officials, our raped and abused loved ones are but statistics, to be hidden away out of reach of the Freedom of Information Act.
Those who invest in and lobby for Uber, see destroyed family members as acceptable collateral damage.
We the people do not count. We never have.


It is time for us to be heard.
We expect our new Mayor of London, Sadiq Khan to order an independent Public Enquiry into TfL's dealings with Uber, Boris Johnson and David Cameron.
We expect Peter Hendy, John Mason, Leon Daniels, Garrett Emmerson and the above main protagonists to be questioned on oath.
Something is rotten in the state of London, and we the people of London, demand answers.

ZERO TOLERANCE!

THE CHICAGO WAY

It is time for zero tolerance.

TfL have instructed our undermanned police force to nick drivers queuing (not illegally ranking, or illegally parking) to enter Paddington and Kings Cross Stations; whilst Private Hire and Uber plot up where they want.

If this continues, we will flash demo and close those areas.

You hit us? We hit back.

Most of us grew up on the streets and housing estates of London, before the class gerrymandering and ethnic cleansing was instigated by this Government, to accommodate Tobies (Toffs on Bikes), who wished to live nearer work.

Are we Londoners going to bow down to a bunch of pen-pushing pricks whose sole purpose is to oversee a Taxi genocide, on behalf of a corrupt, bought and paid for, Tory government?

No we are not!

We are not going to take TfL's bullying tactics anymore.

They are trying to wear us down. And keep us down.

We are going to show TfL that we refuse to be intimidated.

We will fight back on every front!

"You wanna get Capone? Here's how you get him..." The Chicago way.

We hit everything they do to intimidate us.

We hit everything they fail to enforce.

They are nicking Taxi drivers for queuing to get into stations. Whilst leaving Minicabs to do as they please.

The inconvenience Minicabs cause, plotting up in St Pancras Station, is only part of the issue. What about the security aspect?

Why should we be blown to kingdom come, because no one cares to do their job properly?

We refuse to stand for it!

Monday 18 April 2016 marks the start of a week of civil disobedience from the Taxi trade.

Every evening at 17:00, Taxis will blockade Kings Cross and St Pancras Stations, front, back and surrounding areas.

This action will continue every evening until the authorities promise to police the drop off zones.

If they break their promise? We will be back.

Once we have forced the authorities to get up off of their privileged fat arses and do their job of securing St Pancras, we will turn our attention to Paddington.

Remember this, once Uber and Private Hire are allowed a feeder park in Heathrow Airport; they will target our stations.

Uber and Private Hire have been shitting and pissing in the streets and gardens around Heathrow.

Have they been punished? No! They have been rewarded.

Do not think we are going to take a Private Hire feeder inside Heathrow, lying down.

The new Mayor will be made acutely aware of where we stand.

We will stop the world.

Join us now, to fight back.

NO SURRENDER!

A wild animal is most dangerous when wounded

Ever watched a boxer, well behind on points, fight the last few rounds?

Ever watched your team turn it on in the last ten minutes of a game because they are losing, and thought 'Why didn't they play like this from the start?"

We the Taxi Trade are in the last ten minutes of our game.

If we can score one goal, we will get that vital replay at home.

We must lift our heads and go that extra mile. Hit the opposition with everything we have. Force them back into their own penalty area.

Fight like we have nothing to lose. Because literally, that is the case; we have nothing to lose.

The game is not over! It is time to play like a team.

A champion never throws in the towel. And a team of champions always play to the final whistle.

So do not give up. That is what TfL and their masters want.

We, as a Trade, have been misrepresented and betrayed.

We have waited for something to happen, for promises to be kept and for the sleeping eighty percent to wake up. All we got for our troubles was to end up further down Shit Creek.

That was then, this is now. It is time to show our Dunkirk spirit.

We are not going to hold our hands up and surrender, because some rich arsehole thinks we are insignificant.

Those of you who have been fortunate enough to travel in Taxis abroad, know only too well how highly regarded we are by our fellow cabbies across the world.

They are looking to us to show them the way.

We are not going to shy away from our responsibilities.

We are going to fight!

We are going to get that replay!

We are going to let them know, in no uncertain terms, if we go down, we are taking each and every one of those bastards down with us!

Join the RMT, so we can become one powerful voice.

Leave the subservient eighty percent who are submissive to TfL and their condescending board.

Join the proactive twenty percent, who do everything for you on your behalf.

Refuse to be bowed by bullying officials and their underhand tactics.

Help turn the Pro Twenty percent into a Pro Fifty percent.

Help turn TfL on its head and make the new Mayor realise we are playing for our lives.

A CALL TO ARMS

WHY THE RMT?

Last night I attended my first RMT meeting.

To say I was impressed is an understatement.

I witnessed correct, democratic procedure and a unique way in which members have a genuine voice.

The passion and fight within that room was unmistakably positive and uplifting.

And most importantly, the RMT have a cohesive plan to win back our Trade from a disruptive and destructive TfL.

At the moment, TfL have mismanaged its way into a situation where there is a thin tissue of difference between Taxis and Private Hire.

If we do not grasp this last chance of fighting back and reversing TfL's abhorrent disregard for the Taxi Trade, we will be doomed to a one tier system where money trumps all.

Why the RMT?

What the hell has any Org or Union, including the RMT, achieved?

Fuck all, is the answer.

So again, why the RMT?

Unlike the LTDA, who are no more than a TfL apologist, the RMT London Taxi Branch did not have enough members.

Now through favourable happenstance, the RMT have an influx of new members who are willing to fight.

Frontline members like the Mayfair Mob, who has actively given the opposition, especially Uber, a bloody nose.

Innovative members who are not scared of getting their collars felt for a just cause, like Dads Defending Daughters.

Members who have been fighting to preserve your ranks in Shoreditch, the West End and City.

Members who regularly turn up on demos, no matter who calls it.

Members who are willing to Flash Demo at a moment’s notice.

Members who galvanised, when Boris tagged us Luddites, and marched ten miles in the pouring rain for a common cause.

Members who are sick to the back teeth of a Government who believes we are an insignificant paper tiger, to be brushed aside for their illegal profiteering.

They are passionate, energetic, and understand our sense of urgency.

The RMT membership wants to be proactive, and not sit on its hands waiting for empty promises.

The RMT, like its new members, will lead from the front.

The more members the RMT has, the bigger their clout.

For the sake of our future, I hope you join the RMT.

NO NEWS IS BAD NEWS

TAXI BLACKOUT

A few weeks ago, my friend Sean Pier rang the editor of Taxi, the trade magazine, published by the LTDA. To ask him why there was no mention of the Dads Defending Daughters protest, on 9th March.

Sean told the editor how the Dads Defending Daughters demo caught everyone by surprise; including the BBC and police.

Explaining that Dads Defending Daughters are a cross Org group of concerned Taxi drivers. Who felt the safety of Londoners was being undermined by TfL, and condoned by a BBC blackout and corrupt politicians.

Sean told him that Dads Defending Daughters funded all their own banners, placards and leaflets out of their own pockets. And how they all took the risk of getting their collars felt and licenses jeopardised, for a just cause.

He went on to explain that although Dads Defending Daughters count themselves as fathers first and taxi drivers second, they marched as a trade unit.

As we all know, rape and sexual assault by Private Hire and Uber, has gone through the roof.

Assaults have been allowed to flourish, to mute public anger and protect the Board of TfL. To appease Uber lobbyists and culpable MPs who value profit above people.

Taxi's editor apologised, saying he had heard nothing about Dads Defending Daughters. And asked Sean to provide pertinent information and photographs, via email. He finished the call by promising to publish a story in the next edition.

But there was nothing in the next edition of Taxi magazine.

The BBC have a track record for putting celebs and the threat of scandal before the welfare of young people. So their blackout was expected, even though Dads Defending Daughters brought their protest to the very steps of Broadcasting House.

What was not expected, was a blackout by our own trade paper. By the LTDA.

Dads Defending Daughters consists of LTDA members, UCG, LCDC, Unite and RMT members.

Dads Defending Daughters is not an Org. Nor does it want to be.

To a man, every Dads Defending Daughters member of the LTDA has vowed to leave them.

Nor will any member of Dads Defending Daughters pick up another copy of Taxi ever again. They can rot in their stands.

All the LTDA do is spout rhetoric, beguile their members with false promises, and sleep with the enemy.

They have lead this trade by the nose, to exactly where TfL and their Board of Deregulators want them.

How so many pay so much for so little, baffles me.

Deregulate this bunch of shysters. Get rid of Oddy, by getting rid of your membership.

We are fighting TfL.

LTDA are TfL in disguise.

EMPATHY IN HIGH PLACES

Today I received a positive letter from my local MP, Bob Neill.

I wrote to every Mayoral candidate, the Prime Minister, the Chancellor of the Exchequer, the Mayor of London, my local MP for Bromley & Chislehurst, the Suzy Lamplugh Trust, Rape Crisis England & Wales, and every single Taxi Charity we serve.

I received just five replies.

Personal replies from Bob Neill and Zac Goldsmith.

And assisted replies from Sadiq Khan, George Galloway and Boris Johnson.

I thank each and every one of those named. I know they are extremely busy individuals. Three of which are on a hectic campaign trail.

Of the other Mayoral candidates; I do understand they too have a busy schedule.

The Suzy Lamplugh Trust and Rape Crisis E&W seemed more concerned with donations than doing anything positive.

Sadly I have to report that not one of our Charities acknowledged my correspondence.

I thought their board of governors or management would have been only too pleased to give something back to a trade who have worked so tirelessly on their behalf.

Patrons of charities are excellent in the art of persuasion. They could have been of valuable service to the Licensed London Taxi trade, in our hour of need.

I wonder who they would turn to, if we were no more?

Empathy from the hierarchy is not enough to combat apathy from our own rank and file.

We must start looking after ourselves.

Do not listen to what anyone promises; including your own Union/Club/Group/Association. Look instead to what they do. Actions speak louder.

Loud speaking actions are all well and good if they ultimately achieve something.

What has your Union/Club/Group/Association actually achieved?

Very little, is the answer I keep hearing.

So let's honour our side of the bargain. And insist they honour theirs.

Be more proactive.

Be more hands on, at branch level.

Tell your Union/Club/Group/Association, through their chain of command, what you expect from them.

If you are not a member of a Union/Club/Group/Association with legal cover, then you are a lone fool, and probably a member of that subservient eighty percent who hinder this trade.

If you are a member of a Union/Club/Group/Association, then you must at least meet them halfway and attend meetings, ask questions, proffer ideas, vote on issues, and answer a call to arms if need be.

We do not have to be alone.

We are legion ... if we are many.

THE TIME HAS COME

Let’s take the fight to them!

Like most of you, I have heard about this impending Demo to close LAP for twenty four hours.
And like most of you, I welcome it.
If you intend to Demo, get Union cover. I have joined the RMT.
Why the RMT? Because they seem to share our sense of urgency.

Street Demos by the UCG have galvanised the Pro20. But unfortunately, apart from that, they have achieved very little success or media coverage.
Sitting silently, listening to the toothless GLA discuss our demise, has not helped our cause either.
We have lobbied en masse and on a daily basis, to no avail.
We have written to and emailed our MPs, with little to no response.
Before the school holidays last year, we were promised by Tom Watson and Unite the Union that something positive will be happening. Well eight months later the only positives I can see are all on the opposition's scoreboard.

The LTDA have lured us into this mess. I lay this, perilous situation we now find ourselves, firmly at the door of Taxi House.
Anyone who is still a member of that culpable association needs their apathetic heads examined.

Opponents of upping the ante, say that it will be a Public Relations disaster.
Which public is that?

The public who waves his phone at scabs, whilst you roast on a rank?

Or the public who buy your Big Issue, as you stand outside Novikov, watching scabs doing your job, as you wish you did more?

There have been calls to block every bridge from Tower to Wandsworth, and bring London to a standstill.
Boris has already done this with his CSH Blitzkrieg. Who would notice the difference?
Anyhow why stop London, when you can stop the World? Let's see the BBC refuse to cover that event.

Yes we will get bad press. At the moment we are getting no press.
Before Dads Defending Daughters turned up on the last Demo, with placards and banners, people would approach us asking why we were there.
Let's face facts, no one knows about our plight.
And moreover, very few care about our plight.
How many of us, not directly connected, gave much attention to the Miners or the Print Workers?
But we do care about the Firemen and the Steelworkers. Why? Because we have empathy, born from a common injustice.

You cannot sit on your hands, hoping everything will turn out rosy, while the Mayfair Mob, Shoreditch Mob, Flash Demo and the LCDC/UCG do all your bidding.

There comes a time when you have to play your part, and become part of the solution and not the problem.

You are either with us or against us. There is no just cause for abstention.

Uber cannot compete with Licensed London Taxis. They are just a plastic Addison Lee.
But they are competing, and driving us out of business, in an extreme form of professional genocide. Uber have achieved this, due to the incestuous personal and professional relationship they have with your Prime Minister, Chancellor and Mayor. Aided by many MPs, on both sides of the House, who place profit before public safety.
Uber are backed by massive corporations who wish to purloin our livelihood.
And still some of you want us to carry on regardless, head in the sand, hoping it will all just go away.

It is time to man up. And stand up to these bullies.
Let's be able to tell our Grandchildren, 'I was there. I fought for my rights. I was part of that Movement.'
Win or lose, I promise you, you will be saying those words with pride.
If we are going down, let's go down in history!