🟥 𝐃𝐫𝐢𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐬 𝐢𝐧 𝐬𝐡𝐨𝐜𝐤 𝐚𝐬 𝐜𝐨𝐮𝐧𝐜𝐢𝐥 𝐬𝐞𝐭 𝐭𝐨 𝐬𝐜𝐫𝐚𝐩 𝐤𝐧𝐨𝐰𝐥𝐞𝐝𝐠𝐞 𝐭𝐞𝐬𝐭𝐬.

Again, another instance of don’t let a good story get in the way of the truth. 

The Manchester Evening News posted a story with the headline:

Local 'knowledge test' for taxi drivers set to be scrapped in the Greater Manchester borough of Bury.

Drivers will no longer be required to answer 15 questions about road names and have to complete 2 journeys.

The reason given by the council is that with new technology, drivers don’t need to know the knowledge. 

They of course went with a photo of a line of Hackney TX4s and Vitos, used word such as, 'Taxi Drivers and Taxi Licence'…..

Yet reading through the article, it becomes quite apparent that they are actually referring to a Private Hire Licence, which they mention towards the end of the article. 

The council say that owing to cross boarder hiring, and drivers flooding the area with minicabs and drivers licensed in other boroughs, their revenue from licenses has fallen to an all time low!

Therefore they are scrapping the 'knowledge test', better known to us as the topographic test. 

See article, click this link: 

https://www.manchestereveningnews.co.uk/news/greater-manchester-news/local-knowledge-test-taxi-drivers-27924091

𝐓𝐀𝐗𝐈 𝐋𝐄𝐀𝐊𝐒 𝐄𝐗𝐓𝐑𝐀 𝐁𝐈𝐓: 

This is just another instance of lazy journalism, where the author hasn’t done enough research into an issue they obviously have no knowledge of.

Wonder if I called the author (Chris Gee) a part time minicab driver instead of a reporter (and say "well they’re all the same to me")….wether he would be insulted?

Chris Gee is apparently advertising himself as 'the Manchester Evening New's democracy, reporter'. 😂

🟧 𝐀𝐧𝐨𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐛𝐥𝐚𝐬𝐭 𝐟𝐫𝐨𝐦 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐩𝐚𝐬𝐭, 𝐋𝐨𝐧𝐝𝐨𝐧’𝐬 𝐟𝐢𝐫𝐬𝐭 𝐀𝐌𝐏𝐇𝐈𝐂𝐀𝐁

Fantastic video from Stephen Fry, who for a Channel Four show Gadget Man, turned one of his old cabs into an amphibious Taxi. 

Click on the square box in the video, bottom right corner to see video 

Stephen was well known for his Green Taxi which was often seen parked on the feeder rank at John Lewis… but because of his popularity, attracted very few complaints from London’s finest. 

Very entertaining watch. 

𝐓𝐀𝐗𝐈 𝐋𝐄𝐀𝐊𝐒 𝐄𝐗𝐓𝐑𝐀 𝐁𝐈𝐓: 

I recently had to part with my TX4, as it had reached the end of its life as a London Taxi (thanks to Sadiq Khans attack on the trade).

I’m now regretting selling it on. 

I would love to have turned it into an Amphicab.

𝐎𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐜𝐞𝐥𝐞𝐛𝐫𝐢𝐭𝐢𝐞𝐬 𝐭𝐨 𝐨𝐰𝐧 𝐚 𝐋𝐨𝐧𝐝𝐨𝐧 𝐓𝐚𝐱𝐢:

Kate Moss who was given one by her friends as a birthday present and she can often be seen driving round London. 

Many years ago, Liberace had an old FX3 London Taxi shipped to the states and used it to pick up his friends from the airport. As a joke he used to put the meter on. 

Arnold Schwarzenegger bought a London Taxi and paid to have it shipped to his home in California in 2003. 

The iconic filmmaker Stanley Kubrick took to driving around in an iconic London cab in his latter years, proudly displaying his taxi at his Hertfordshire home for all to see.

Sid James starred in Carry On Cabby, so it was no surprise he was a self-proclaimed taxi enthusiast. 

Happy Mondays' Bez used the money from his Big Brother appearance to buy a black cab to "pimp" up.

Sir Laurence Olivier also took to driving in a black London taxi, too.

Yvette Fielding - presenter of Most Haunted - also has her own black cab for personal use. 

Most famous of all, the Duke of Edinburgh bought his own private green Metrocab. It was rumoured that he would put on a cloth cap, creep out of the Palace and drive down to the Kings Road for a quick Kebab.

🟦 𝐕𝐢𝐜𝐭𝐨𝐫𝐲 𝐚𝐬 𝐃𝐚𝐢𝐥𝐲 𝐌𝐚𝐢𝐥 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐓𝐢𝐦𝐞𝐬 𝐂𝐡𝐚𝐧𝐠𝐞 𝐏𝐡𝐨𝐭𝐨𝐬 𝐨𝐟 𝐋𝐨𝐧𝐝𝐨𝐧 𝐓𝐚𝐱𝐢𝐬.

A victory of sort as Mail and Times change photos of London Taxis.

Unfortunately they are still using the word Taxi as the info behind both articles had come the the National Private Hire and Taxi Association.

We believe that this victory is due mainly to the strongly worded communications sent to both papers from 'London Taxi PR', who have again come up trumps for the trade.

We have received this email from the Daily Mail. 

Dear Mr Thomas,

 Thank you for your email which has been passed for my attention.

The editor has confirmed that the image you highlight has been replaced with a more appropriate stock image.

We note that the word ‘taxi’ could refer to any motor vehicle licensed to transport passengers for a fare, so we are satisfied that the usage of the term in this article is accurate.

In view of the above, we can see no reason to remove this article.

Thank you for getting in touch.

Sincerely,

Sam Muir

Compliance Editor

And have sent them this further reply. 

Dear Sam

The word Taxi (if researched properly) refers to a vehicle transporting paying passengers, that is exclusively fitted with a Taxi Meter, which calculates the fare. 

In UK legislation, only Hackney Carriage Vehicles are allowed to have Taxi meters. Private Hire cars (minicabs) are not allowed under legislation to be fitted with such device, and can not use the word Taxi in any way, be it signage on the vehicle, or in any form of advertising of their business. 

In London, this is covered by the Private Hire Act 1998 section 31

https://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/1998/34/section/31

The article published by your paper refers to a recent court case that is only applicable to the Private Hire trade and has nothing to do with Taxis or the Licensed Taxi trade. The ruling makes that clear. 

Therefore I would ask you again to either remove this article from your website, or at least change the wording from Taxi to Private hire. 

James Thomas 

Editor New Taxi Leaks.

Sunday Times have removed the image of London Taxi, but still using the word Taxi in their post.

🟥 𝐃𝐢𝐬𝐠𝐫𝐚𝐜𝐞𝐟𝐮𝐥 𝐚𝐫𝐭𝐢𝐜𝐥𝐞 𝐛𝐲 𝐍𝐚𝐭𝐚𝐬𝐡𝐚 𝐀𝐧𝐝𝐞𝐫𝐬𝐨𝐧 𝐢𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐃𝐚𝐢𝐥𝐲 𝐌𝐚𝐢𝐥 𝐚𝐠𝐚𝐢𝐧. 𝐒𝐔𝐍𝐃𝐀𝐘 𝐔𝐏𝐃𝐀𝐓𝐄. 𝐀𝐥𝐦𝐨𝐬𝐭 𝐢𝐝𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐢𝐜𝐚𝐥 𝐚𝐫𝐭𝐢𝐜𝐥𝐞 𝐢𝐧 𝐭𝐨𝐝𝐚𝐲𝐬 𝐒𝐮𝐧𝐝𝐚𝐲 𝐓𝐢𝐦𝐞𝐬

Minicab fares in London could rise by 20% as High Court rules that companies rather than drivers are liable for contracts - meaning minicab firms could be responsible for charging VAT. 

This article has nothing to do with London’s finest Taxis, but the Mail goes with the false headline:

Taxi fares could rise by 20% as High Court rules that companies rather than drivers are liable for contracts - meaning hire firms could be responsible for charging VAT. 

They also post a misleading image of a line of London Taxis, instead of a line of minicabs 

If they can’t get this right…what else do they get wrong? 

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-12629627/Take-fares-rise-VAT-liable-High-Court.html

𝐓𝐀𝐗𝐈 𝐋𝐄𝐀𝐊𝐒 𝐄𝐗𝐓𝐑𝐀 𝐁𝐈𝐓: 

Not surprisingly, the link to the story has been removed from their Twitter (X) and Facebook platforms after a deluge of complaint comments from real Taxi drivers. 

Unfortunately, the story is still up on their website.

Anyone wanting to contact the author of this article, she’s on Twitter(X) as

Natasha Anderson (@andersonatasha)

London Taxi PR have made this post:

Editorial complaint filed this morning with @MailOnline over yesterday's totally inaccurate news item regarding fares + misleading imagery. A wholly incorrect piece that we've highlighted & requested an apology be forthcoming. Woeful sloppy journalism, which we will not stand for. 

Unless this is corrected & apology issued we will take further action.

𝐒𝐔𝐍𝐃𝐀𝐘 𝐔𝐏𝐃𝐀𝐓𝐄. 

𝐈𝐓 𝐀𝐏𝐏𝐄𝐀𝐑𝐒:

𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐒𝐔𝐍𝐃𝐀𝐘 𝐓𝐈𝐌𝐄𝐒 𝐇𝐀𝐕𝐄 𝐏𝐎𝐒𝐓𝐄𝐃 𝐀𝐍 𝐀𝐋𝐌𝐎𝐒𝐓 𝐈𝐃𝐄𝐍𝐓𝐈𝐂𝐀𝐋 𝐀𝐑𝐓𝐈𝐂𝐋𝐄 𝐓𝐎 𝐓𝐇𝐀𝐓 𝐎𝐅 𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐃𝐀𝐈𝐋𝐘 𝐌𝐀𝐈𝐋.

🟥 𝐓𝐫𝐚𝐟𝐟𝐢𝐜 𝐞𝐱𝐩𝐞𝐫𝐭 𝐜𝐥𝐚𝐢𝐦𝐬 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐞 𝐢𝐬 𝐚 𝐛𝐞𝐭𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝐬𝐨𝐥𝐮𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐧 𝐔𝐋𝐄𝐙 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐫𝐞𝐝𝐮𝐜𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐋𝐨𝐧𝐝𝐨𝐧 𝐩𝐨𝐥𝐥𝐮𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 -

There’s a surprise. 

A traffic expert at one of the world's leading Sat Nav manufacturers has claimed that better traffic management in London will have a greater effect on the city's pollution levels than Sadiq Khan's expansion of the capital's ultra low emission zone (ULEZ).

The Mayor of London expanded the scheme to Outer London in August, with drivers of non-compliant vehicles (broadly pre-2015 diesel and pre-2005 petrol) facing a £12.50 daily fee.

The vast majority of roads in the capital are controlled by borough councils, whilst the city's so-called 'red routes' are under the jurisdiction of Transport for London (TfL).

Andy Marchant, Traffic Expert at TomTom, claims the firm's analysis shows that emissions increased in the city last year due to 'slow-moving traffic'.

He said: "The ULEZ expansion is just one part of the bigger picture around improving London’s air quality. Public programmes that aim to tackle rising traffic emissions, including London's Ultra Low Emissions Zone (ULEZ) expansion, remain essential to supporting the UK’s ambition to reach net zero by 2050."

Andy Marchant has called for longer term measures to address traffic pollution in London. 

He continued: "However, this may only prove impactful for so long. In fact, over 90 per cent of London’s vehicles already comply with ULEZ requirements.

𝐎𝐮𝐫 𝐚𝐧𝐚𝐥𝐲𝐬𝐢𝐬 𝐬𝐡𝐨𝐰𝐬 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐋𝐨𝐧𝐝𝐨𝐧’𝐬 𝐭𝐫𝐚𝐧𝐬𝐩𝐨𝐫𝐭 𝐞𝐦𝐢𝐬𝐬𝐢𝐨𝐧𝐬 𝐢𝐧𝐜𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐬𝐞𝐝 𝐥𝐚𝐬𝐭 𝐲𝐞𝐚𝐫 𝐝𝐮𝐞 𝐭𝐨 𝐬𝐥𝐨𝐰-𝐦𝐨𝐯𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐭𝐫𝐚𝐟𝐟𝐢𝐜.

"With drivers in UK cities spending 2 per cent longer stuck in slow-moving traffic last year compared to 2021, it’s inevitable that London’s fuel consumption (petrol consumption rose 2.5 per cent from 2021 and diesel consumption rose by 2.5% year on year) and CO² emissions increased at the same time.

Source: MyLondon

🟨 𝐅𝐞𝐝 𝐮𝐩 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐭𝐫𝐚𝐝𝐞 𝐩𝐨𝐥𝐢𝐭𝐢𝐜𝐬, 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐧 𝐈 𝐡𝐨𝐩𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐩𝐮𝐭𝐬 𝐚 𝐬𝐦𝐢𝐥𝐞 𝐨𝐧 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐟𝐚𝐜𝐞.

On Saturday the 6th of October 1973, the Yom Kippur war broke out. I was a dustman at the time and the following Monday, I had an appointment at the Carriage Office in regards to the Knowledge of London. I had made arrangements with my work mates who said they would clock me in, if I came to work really early, I could finish early and still have my appearance.

My job was to pull the bins out and leave them on the curb. 

As I walked into the Israeli Embassy residence in Avenue road St John’s Wood, I was jumped on by two burly security guards who arrested me and took me into a little hut. 

When I asked them why they had done this, they said I’d posed a security risk because of what was going on in Israel. 

I said “don’t be silly, do I look like a terrorist?”

They looked me up and down…I was wearing a Parker, with overalls tucked into my socks and Dr Martin boots and as I’d arrived in Avenue Road on my Moped, I was also wearing a balaclava as the morning air was quite chilly. 

The gaurd said “yes, you look exactly like a terrorist!” 

I had no form of ID on me…so I had to wait for them to contact the council who sent an inspector from the yard to identify me. 

When I was finally released by security, it was too late to go home and get changed, and as I didn’t want to miss my appointment (which was frowned upon by Penton Street) I got on my moped and headed straight to Penton Street. It was my third appearance on 21's and I was worried if I didn’t turn up, they would put me back on 28 days. 

That morning, I had Mr Finlay as my examiner. When he called my name out and I stood up, his face was a picture. He ushered me into his office and before I sat down he said to me, “why are you dressed like that?…if I can wear a suit, I think it’s only right that you should dress appropriately.”

After I explained what had happened to me that morning, he invited me to sit down and said he appreciated the fact that I’d found it important to make the appearance rather than cancel. 

He then asked me a few blue book runs, along with a few points, then gave me my card back. I said thank you and walked to the reception to book my next appearance. It was only when she said “oh, well done Mr Thomas”… I realised he had marked my card with a 14, giving me my two’s. 

My following appearances were with Mr Finlay, who treated me well, not at all like the reputation he had of being difficult…and on my second two’s appearance, he gave me my Rec. 

I’ll never forget his final words to me as he handed me my card saying “well done Mr Thomas, now get your arse round the suburbs and good luck”. 

𝐓𝐀𝐗𝐈 𝐋𝐄𝐀𝐊𝐒 𝐄𝐗𝐓𝐑𝐀 𝐁𝐈𝐓:

I’d started the knowledge in January 1973, after finally having two appearances on Suburbs and passing the driving test, had my badge by December the same year. The best Christmas present I’d ever had. 

I’ve always wondered how much longer my knowledge would have lasted if I’d just not turned up and missed my appointment?