Earlier this week I posted about Ron Kalifa, TFL director who's company Worldpay were advertising £16 off the first Uber journey from the Worldpay Benefits Club. So, not only is this man responsible for our credit card nightmare but his company is obviously being paid to advertise our illegally licensed competitor, not content with that, he also has an input in our regulation.
Since then a video of a meeting between the London Assembly and Tom Kearney has surfaced in which a culture of complete and total disregard for public safety is revealed as the norm within TFL and London's bus network.
(See below)
Chairing the meeting was Caroline Pidgeon who was joined by Kieth Prince, Transport Committee,
David Kurten, Transport Committee and Caroline Russell, Transport Committee.
Tom Kearney has become a prolific safety campaigner since he recovered from injuries received in a horrific accident involving a bus in December 2009 on Oxford Street.
He punctured both his lungs and was in a coma.
The meeting took place on 28th February 2017 and Tom began by revealing that TFL doesn't have a bus operators license, which given the fact Leon Daniels and Garret Emerson are directors of London Buses LTD and London Bus Services LTD, I found that quite strange. However, it makes perfect business sense given the bus safety record as TFL cannot be held responsible or liable for damage or injury in cases of accidents, crashes or serious incidents along with negating the need to take responsibility for driver's actions. Knowing how sneaky and devious they are I would imagine this arrangement to be by design.
He goes on to say that the Bus Benchmark Group compared TFL with 15 other world city authorities and rated London 11th in the accident category from 2007-14. It seems TFL have created a culture of excessive speed and corner-cutting in the bus network in order to reach timetable targets which has resulted in a callous disregard for public safety.
If drivers fail to meet the targets set or are consistently late they simply lose there jobs, this unbearable stress creates the obvious incentive to take dangerous chances on London's streets and speed through junctions to make up time lost in traffic, sometimes with dire consequences.
This ridiculous pressure is created by TFL managers who pressure the bus operators who in turn pressurise the bus drivers. The reason for it is financial, TFL managers are on a promise of huge bonuses on production of bus performance.
It's simple, if the buses perform well and meet all the targets, Daniels and Co are hugely rewarded financially.
The downside of this neat little arrangement is that although TFL claim London's Bus network is one of the safest in the world, someone is killed or seriously injured roughly every 2 days involving a bus. Figures show that 180 people have been victims of bus accidents since 2014.
The fact that during driver training the drivers are told to expect to crash sooner or later as a casual acceptance of fact is testament to TFLs attitude to public safety. Even the investigations into an average of 68 collisions per day are carried out by their own insurers guaranteeing a win-win situation.
I now fully understand why Bank Junction is so important to them, especially when bus revenue has reportedly dipped due to traffic congestion. It's no wonder they want us out of that junction, we're costing them money, threatening their bonuses so they latch on to the safety argument and pump in £250k to safeguard payday.
TFL have created a superb environment to make huge amounts of money whilst absolving themselves of any responsibility to public safety, yet proclaim it's their utmost concern.
Now apply the same principle to the cab trade.
Why would they want to cap the number of PH?
It doesn't make business sense to do so, £300 per license and 600 licenses per week means £180k every single week.
Why worry about a few accidents, rapes and traffic chaos involving Uber drivers if a fatal bus accident every 2 days doesn't move you to change your ways?
They've created a monster, a culture of reckless endangerment in pursuit of financial reward resulting in the public becoming victims and considered as nothing more than acceptable losses.
Now it all becomes clear.
When George Osborne was sacked we thought we'd seen and heard the last of him. He had huge input in Uber coming here along with Bojo and Cameron. He's recently joined Blackrock fund managers in a lucrative six figure advisory role, but remains an MP. He's obviously registered this appointment with the register of interests but I wonder if he's mentioned that Blackrock have invested in Uber?
Presumably on his advice.
As an MP who's sworn an oath of allegiance to the crown and having previously served as chancellor, a relationship with an American investment fund who've invested in an American transport company which has decimated a British icon and industry would surely constitute a conflict of interest.
Blackrock have also invested in Geely to the tune of 6,163,931 shares at 10.70 per share amounting to just shy of £66m. Seeing as Osborne flew to China personally to broker trade deals when chancellor, I'd say he was well placed to predict the future of our industry and perhaps we're seeing the master plan entering its final stage.
Geely have invested £250m in a facility outside Coventry in order to build the new TX5 electric/hybrid taxi. A welcome boost for the area with 1000 jobs created. TFL welcomed the deal as Bojo decided after 2018 all new taxis had to be zero emissions to help make London a "greener city".
In March 2016, Geely announced a deal to expand the business and supply 1000 new TX5 taxis to Australia and New Zealand over the next five years.
In May 2016 the Australian government deregulated the taxi industry and legalised Uber in an attempt to create a level playing field. Uber have devastated the Australian taxi industry.
Think about it, is it me or is there a trend here?
TFL have no intention of changing their ways, it doesn't pay them to. They'll do everything they can to scupper any attempt we make to fight them. They have enormous backing from government with members of the previous administration having paved the way for an extremely aggressive business plan, giving them carte blanche to do whatever they want.
Geely announce a deal to invest in the London Cab Trade.
A former chancellor joins Blackrock, Blackrock invest in Uber and Geely.
Geely expand into Australia and shortly after the Australian government deregulate the taxi trade.
Does anything sound scary about that paragraph?
The writing's on the wall.
We're told by our orgs that we have to wait until Uber is granted the second license to go for a judicial review.
The barrister that said that can afford to wait, I can't, we can't. It's obvious to me a plan to remove us from London's landscape has been in place for years.
Osborne's Blackrock investment in Uber and Geely confirm my suspicions that the intention is to replace us with robots who conform to every authoritarian whim without question.
Why bother supplying 25k Hackney carriage drivers with cabs when hundreds of thousands of prospective customers exist?
All it takes is deregulation, the gateway to unimaginable riches opens at the cost of the few, a small price for a people to pay.
We don't have the luxury of time.
When the demos restart, and they will, please be ready to fix bayonets and fight.
I'd like to think I've proven in this post that it is all about the money, nothing else matters to these rats. The only sure way to inflict maximum damage and pain on them is by a complete, total shut down of London. I hope I've proved that buses are essential to TFL and that any disruption to the schedule impacts greatly on their bonus and public safety.
So if direct action is to be successful it has to be concentrated on the most important part of TFL, which is anywhere a bus goes.
Our achliies heel is we haven't struck fear into TFL, they need to crap themselves at the thought of the cab trade and until that's achieved, we will achieve nothing. For that to happen we need to be decisive and relentless, proactive not reactive.
Ask yourself one question:
Can you see yourself being able to pay for your daughter's wedding in five years time given our current situation?
I can't.
If not, you need to wake up and smell the coffee and stand ready to fight your corner when the call comes.
Nobody is going to help us, the legal route will take too long.
Please think about this year as being the most important year of your working life because it is.
Don't waste your time hoping other people will save your trade for you because those days have gone.
Stand up and be counted.
Be lucky.
6 comments:
For the last few weeks, my normal resolve and optimistic bravado had deserted me. I thought that I was the only one left who wanted a fight. This post has restored all the flames in my belly and strength back to me.
Folks, please listen to what Harry has written here. We are on the very brink of being exterminated. If this trade doesn't make a realistic potent challenge this month, I promise you the job is over.
Blinding post H. God willing, let's hope it doesn't turn out as another "you can take a horse to water...." turnout.
If we don't challenge now, we are dead in the water.
Semtex.
I don't necessarily agree with the theory about TX5s, but I can't fathom an alternative reason for what is going on with the investment in Geely. I'm sure there is a plan already in place though, it's just that they are not being honest about what it is.
I do agree 100% with targeted action immediately though. Keeping in mind the spin machine will go in to action to turn the public against us. As I have said before, we need to get creative.
The first rule of capitalism is 'It isn't fair', often it is immoral, corrupted, intimidating and self serving, all of wich the cab trade is now at the mercy of. Our friends are few our enemies many. I've been banging on about this till I'm blue in the face. This is not about Uber, they are just a diversion, if they failed tomorrow it would be replaced immediately by another band of chancers This is all about the money, it was always about the money if you want answers just follow that money it will lead eventually to all the usual suspects. They know who and we know who they are it's that lot who know the price of everything but the value of nothing. Gone are the days of probity and integrity our system is littered with corruption, selfishness, unjust and unethical decisions. Our livelihoods are of no consequence and no more to the regulator than the safety of the citizens of our great city. The evidence is astonishing and beyond belief,their actions allowed because so many are now complicit. With our numbers already dwindling it is imperative that now is the time for direct action. Our fight might end up like General Gordon at Khartoum or Custer at little bighorn, but if we stand shoulder to shoulder it could be Rorke's Drift where 160 men took on 4000 and won. United we are a formidable force,don't let us be extinguished and stand by and know we did nothing. We owe it to those who have gone before and after to leave this noble trade as we found it,a credit to our great city,cherished and conserved by diligent, honest and proud men and women cab drivers with a history that dates back centuries
Harry seemed to have sussed the agendas here there's plenty of logic to his argument,I think by now the majority of us are aware this is only about money and greed. The red herrings of safety, pollution ect are just not credible anymore.I find it intriguing that the great British public's voice on our potential demise is deafening by its silence. We served them for centuries through thick and thin, wars and terrorism, strikes and bad weather, and what of the Labour Party, the workers friend another deafening silence, I'm beginning to feel very vulnerable and isolated,maybe this is the time for Plan B.
As I said in a previous post as my dad who was a cabbie stated the trade will bring about its own downfall, I cannot see unless you show solidarity and take direct action the end will be a foregone conclusion.
This TX5 situation is very interesting, firstly you have to ask why Nissan pulled out after all the expense and effort they put into it, the cost alone of that showroom on the Isle of dogs for nearly a year and glyn hopkin are no mugs, but that is a drop in the ocean compared to the development costs, then you have this nonsense about design rights on the metrocab. Great delaying tactic to capture the market in 2018
Then I would ask what the LTDA have done with the £1,000,000 war chest to save your jobs, now they are going to count traffic around the Bank area, should'nt they have started that before the closure to have relevant data not convinced personally using ANPR will provide telling info, would guess it is another smokescreen are they as an organisation 'the enemy within' remember if the industry is deregulated they have exposure to a whole new audience and the revenue that would generate.
Sorry to sound a prophet of doom, but I wish you all well. Good Luck
I hear what you say.
You die hard's, I applaud your strength and character.
Me, I can't take it any more. My bill is up for renewal in May and so far I have done nothing to replace it.
I am sick of the way we have been fkd over, the contempt and disrespect for our trade and the way I find myself struggling to earn minimum wage when I go out.
I don't know what I am going to do next. I'll find something. At least I won't be paying over a grand a month in rental and fuel for the privilege of earning a few measly quid.
Good luck to you all.
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