Whitehall was bought to a complete standstill yesterday afternoon, by the latest protest against uneven, unfair Taxi and Private Hire regulations.
Cabbies joined by their friends and family were out in force causing gridlock traffic and temporary road closures in the area.
Cabby's wife Artemis Mercer, started her face book group in May this year, which together with its Twitter account now has over 16,000 members/followers. The idea being to unite the trade through families and friends. Completely unconnected to any trade org or union, the Save Our Back Taxis group was formed to give a voice to the whole cabby family and their supporters.
Artemis stressed we need answers from TfL and we need them now before it's too late, before the black Taxis disappear from our streets.
#SaveTaxi Campaigner Cher Morresey said
her partner is working double his normal hours for just over a third of his normal wage, making it incredibly difficult to make ends meet for their family.
Disable people against cuts campaigner, Eleanor Lindsey said:
"If our London Taxis are driven out of business, I would no longer be able to hail a Taxi and wouldn't be able to get about".
TfL must make up its mind, does London really want a 100% wheelchair accessible fleet, currently financed by the driver, with no TfL or government subsidy?
With drivers who know where they're going and are fully insured 100% of the time?
Uber isn't the problem, Transport for London is the problem, as a regulator failing to enforce its own regulations regarding private hire operators and drivers, in certain selective cases.
In the past decade, London's black cabs have been static at around 25,000 drivers including suburban drivers, whereas private hire licenses have quadrupled to a staggering 87,000.
At the present rate of 700 new licenses being issued weekly, central London is grinding to a halt, affecting ever other form of road transport, creating massive pollution causing congestion.
Spokesman Patrick McGuiness, said:
"TfL have created an unfair, unlevel playing field...and we're not happy, and we're not going away!"
"This is only the start of it, this is only the friends and family. Wait until the cabdrivers themselves get involved in this. We're going to see unprecedented levels of demonstrations, highlighting the failings of Transport for London".
TfL have put out this statement about the demo and as expected, it was just more lies.
It seems TfL no longer trust Leon Daniels to put out statements to the press after he told a GLA transport committee ( falsely) that Uber driver's have a switch on - switch off insurance policy and also, gave out Jo Bertrum's personal number as Uber's pre booking landline. So they've dug up the man who told Caroline Pidgeon that TfL had an army of 400 cab enforcement officers...you really couldn't make this up...lol
6 comments:
Artemis Mercer has more followers than all the trade organisations put together and all this since May of this year. Just goes to show how lacking the trade organisations are in organisation and leadership.
Just think what could be achieved by them if every London taxi-driver donated a £1 per week to #SaveTaxi.
Good luck to her and her followers.
I was there in my cab,and it made me quite emotional seeing all the wives and kids there.
It brought home to me the human cost of the uncertainty and worry being visited upon our trade.
I'm not sure we can win this battle,but I'm proud to stand shoulder to shoulder with these decent honourable people.
my grateful thanks to the organisers of yesterday's demo
I hope to see everyone on September 16 at City Hall
There is one word that sums up TfL, Johnson and David Cameron's governments agenda...
Duplicity !
Thing is all the demos we do will not change a thing there above the law Its a total joke And uber still getting away with Ehail 12 months it's game over I hate saying this but it is tell me I'm wrong when you hear things like knolwedge excaminer are making it even harder for new blood to enter our trade By holding them back why ???? To keep the numbers down or to deter people doing the knolwedge remember back in the 80s they soon fast tracked people only because there was not many cabs at night no matter how many demos we do our fate is sealed We are finished
you miight be finished but the taxi trade will always be here.never never never.
Yes the taxi trade will be here but in what form ?? I think you need to wake up a little what have we acheaved in the demos the unions talks
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