Cabbies Against Boris Press Release; Boris Johnsons Air Pollution Lies; More Taxi Protests To Come...by Dave Davies.

Boris Johnson was sacked by the Times for his lies; he fabricated a story because he didn’t have any facts on which to base it.

He was then sacked as a Tory Cabinet Minister by the then Conservative Party Leader for yet more lies.

He tried to argue afterwards that it is perfectly acceptable to lie, as documented in a book by Sonia Purnell

>Click here for link<

 

What this tells us that he has continually lied throughout his entire career for more than 20 years, about anything to anyone, regardless of importance of the subject or the person he is lying to.

We should not be surprised that he continually lies, but what is shocking is that his dishonesty about the London Taxi Age Limit and his Air Quality strategies is resulting in the deaths of thousands of people.

 

Boris Johnson recently tried to mislead the Parliamentary Environmental Audit Committee. He provided them with reports showing a 20% reduction in pollution as evidence that his policies have been a success. In fact the reports he submitted to the MPs were several years old and were estimates of reductions using modelled predictions. The actual reports based on air quality measurements showed little or no improvements because the air quality strategies were not based on evidence and have not worked.

The Mayor recently wrote to the Environmental Audit Committee claiming he had reduced pollution in London by scrapping 3000 London Taxis.

This contradicted his own report that he had previously submitted to the Committee in 2010 which acknowledged testing had been carried out and that ‘ a new Euro 5 vehicle will create 5 times as much NO2 as a 15 year old vehicle’. The Mayor ignored his own evidence and implemented the London Taxi Age Limit needlessly scrapping 15 year old taxis.

>Click here for link<

‘’11. NO2 levels have not fallen in recent years as modelling had predicted. This is a problem across major cities in the UK and across the EU. Emerging evidence, including a report by King’s College London, suggests that this may be due to the failure of recent Euro standards to deliver expected reductions of NO2 [1] . A Euro 5 cab, for example, emits around five times as much direct NO2 as a fifteen year old cab.’’

 

A subsequent Defra Report in 2013 following testing of 10,000 London Taxis by the Environmental Research Group at Kings confirmed again that the new taxis drivers were forced to buy at great expense are creating MORE pollution than the 15 year old taxis which were scrapped.

>click here for link to DEFRA a report<

 

In addition Boris Johnson has claimed that he has scrapped 3000 taxis yet TFL’s own figures show that the number of taxis that will have been scrapped by the end of the year (3 months away) is actually more than 6000, twice the number the Mayor has admitted to. Yet another Boris lie.

London Taxi Age

Reg Year   Taxis   Cumulative

1986        1            1

1987        1            2       

1988        4            6

1989       28           34

1990       63           97

1991       62         159

1992       261       420

1993       302       722

1994       503      1225

1995       801      2026

1996      1122     3148

1997      1239     4387

1998      1729     6116

1999      1730     7846

2000      1650     9496

2001      1130    10626

2002      1317    11943

2003      1211    13154

2004      1232    14386

2005      1499    15885

2006      1596    17481

2007      2224    19705

2008      1350    21055

2009      1247    22302      

The London Taxi Age Limit was initiated by Tory MP Tim Yeo, who at the time was Chair of the Environmental Audit Committee and who declared a vested interest because he was also Chair of Eco City Vehicles, the company selling the new taxis, drivers were forced to buy. 

Yeo said that  this may be relevant to the problem of pollution in London and seemed to think that by declaring an interest he was complying with the Parliamentary Rules. The rules clearly state that if the Chair of a Committee has a vested interest they should step aside for that Inquiry, presumably so as to not improperly influence it. 

Yeo ignored this and was instrumental in the initiation of the Taxi Age Limit from which he directly benefited financially.

Tim Yeo was subsequently exposed in an undercover sting by the Sunday Times in which he said ‘pay me £7k a day and I can influence the policy at a local and national level’ and ‘ I have contacts with all the key players in Government’.

This is exactly what he had done with the Taxi Age Limit.

>Click for link to Sunday a Times Story<

 

Complaints to the Parliamentary Standards Commissioner have been ignored.

3         "when a member of a Committee, particularly the Chairman, has a financial interest which is directly affected by a particular inquiry or when he or she considers that a personal interest may reflect upon the work of the Committee or its subsequent Report, the Member should stand aside from the Committee proceedings relating to it." [Paragraph 24]

 

 

During the recent Cabbie Against Boris protest Steve McNamara of the LTDA said that Boris had not acted in bad faith in relation to the taxi age limit and that it was now history anyway.

Steve McNamara was categorically wrong on both points. 

Boris Johnson knew that the new taxis created MORE pollution than the 15 year old taxis he was scrapping so he was acting in bad faith and according to the TFL figures there are about 2000 taxis a year being scrapped (about 40 every week) so if is not history.

Many of the 10,000 LTDA members who pay £18.50 a month are now asking the question ;

Why are the LTDA taking no action on the Taxi Age Limit? 

What exactly are they doing with the £180k a month that they receive? 

There is also widespread concern that Bob Oddy, the LTDA executive committee member, is allegedly paid £30k+ a year by TFL, the organisation that he should be challenging on issues like the Taxi Age Limit on behalf of his members.

 

The Mayor and TFL have made many improper decisions in relation to the London Taxi Trade but they are ‘bang to rights’ over the Taxi Age Limit.

This is the one issue that can be absolutely proven and when it is exposed fully, the Mayor and TFL will be held to account on all issues.

In 2012 Cabbies Against Boris called for a Public Inquiry into the failed Air Quality strategies which included the Taxi Age Limit.

The Mayor was challenged by Cabbies Against Boris during the live Sky News and ITV Mayoral debates.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=71F598oaUnE  7.50 minutes in

 

All of the Mayoral Candidates formally supported the call for a Public Inquiry,; the widespread loss of life, threats to Public Health and allegations of Misconduct fully meet the requirements for a Public Inquiry http://cappi.org.uk/why-a-public-inquiry/

 

>Click link, mayoral-hopefuls-inquiry-boris-johnsons-delayed-pollution-plans<

 

As a direct result The Campaign for Air Pollution Public inquiry was set up 

 http://cappi.org.uk/transport/

Also an e Petition.

http://epetitions.direct.gov.uk/petitions/63333

Please sign it!

 

Earlier this year the Green Party gave its support to the Campaign for Air Pollution Public Inquiry

>Clink link to greenparty story<

 

The London Cab Drivers Club, The United Cabbies Group and the RMT London Taxi Branch supported the recent Cabbies Against Boris Protest and it is hoped that support will continue.

The CAB protests have a clear purpose and a clear objective. The purpose is to expose the improper and unlawful London Taxi Age Limit and the objective is for a Public Inquiry.

If there was a train crash and 80 people were killed there would be an immediate Public Inquiry to establish what has gone wrong and to make sure it never happened again.

In London 80 people die each and every week from pollution yet no action is taken.

The Government banned smoking in Public places because it was harmful to people’s health yet no action has been taken about the even more harmful toxic air that Londoners are breathing on a daily basis.

People used to say ‘I’m going outside for some fresh air’ but if you do that in London you are breathing air that is toxic. In fact if the air in peoples places of work in London was as bad as the air outside they would be shut down by the Health and Safety Executive and Unions.

People can not see or smell the toxic pollution; its the  invisible killer, unlike in the past when the air was thick with smog which resulted in the Clean Air Act in the 1950s, the pollution is made up of ultra fine particles and gases like NO2.

Simple ideas like cleaner fuel which could significantly reduce pollution are being ignored.

 

Taxi Drivers are the worst affected by the toxic pollution as shown by recent testing so I’m  sure that the 100,000 people who recently marched in London about Climate Change and all those who supported it will also be fully supportive of the further London Taxi Protests against the London Taxi Age Limit which is actually making pollution worse.

>See Taxileaks story, click for link<

 

When he was elected in 2010 David Cameron said that his government would be ‘the cleanest greenest government and that he would stamp out cronyism’.

It is ironic that his close buddy Boris has failed miserably on both. He has implemented an improper and unlawful Taxi Age Limit in London which has not reduced pollution but provided financial gain for his Tory buddy Tim Yeo.

 

Perhaps the ongoing London Taxi Protests will remind David Cameron of his pledge while he is at the Tory conference this week and he could ask Boris why he has acted in this way.

 

Recent London Live articles about the Cabbies Against Boris London Taxi Age Limit protests

 

>Click for link to london live, cabbies against boris<