It was only just over a year ago when the capital decided to elect the cheeky cheerful chap called Boris Johnson to the highest elected office within the capital. Many of the capital’s taxi-cab drivers including me supported him and were only too pleased to see the back of Ken Livingstone. However mutterings have started on forums that maybe the London taxi driver was better off under Livingstone.
What seems to concern many within the taxi trade and this does concern me also is the very hands off, lack of detail, pass it on to a advisor or worse still just let Transport for London deal with issue. Ken Livingstone was too hands on and Boris Johnson is just too hands off, Londoners deserve and need a Mayor with sound judgement. Why has it taken the head of the National Gallery to speak out about the complete disaster the paving over of the north side of Trafalgar Square is/was. The hub of London doesn’t move and if we really want to hold concerts in central London use the excellent parks nearby off the Mall.
Livingstone left his mark on London, a congestion scheme that doesn’t work, bendy buses, massive taxpayer subsidy, transport for London and all its overpaid executives, gun and knife crime out of control. Boris has with the support of the Met Police attempted to reduce gun & knife crime but his choice of deputies has been awful, transport for London still doesn’t listen to stakeholders and they just seem to continue working away waiting for a return of the Livingstone.
Boris Johnson doesn’t seem to listen to the concerns of taxi-cab drivers and this will further alienate a group of key workers who were looking forward to him dealing with the real problems they face on a 24 hour basis. Who would have predicted that after Johnson won on 4th of May 2008 that within his first 15 months of office large numbers of taxi-cab drivers would be joining the Rail Maritime & Transport Union (RMT, I’ve joined by the way). Now if this is happening to people that supported his election what is happening to those groups of people who didn’t?
David Cameron and his Conservative party should take note that you cannot take the voter or groups of workers (especially workers who don’t strike) for granted and this expected election victory is far from in the bag. It seems many within the present Conservative set up at City Hall fail to understand that taxi driving in London is a profession and not like any other mundane job, you earn the right to “rank” and “ply for hire” and those who encroach on that right should be told where to go in plain pleasant English.
It seems the present Mayor forgot his pledge to the London taxi trade that the differential between taxi-cabs and mini-cabs would be maintained. In fact it actually seems like the present regime at Windsor house and City Hall wish to erode the rights of the worlds finest taxi trade.
Bring back who? Let’s seek the divorce and kick the politicians into touch. Independence may well be the saviour of the London taxi-cab driver because many of us are starting to think it’s not Boris Johnson.
photo credit: City Hall Mayor Johnson on the set of Eastenders
