Yes it is now over three weeks since well over 8,000 taxi-cabs descended on Trafalgar Square and yes I’m pleased to report that talks have at last taken place between the three trade organisations and transport for London. However with the recent shocking report detailing the inadequate response to the recent snow fall here in the capital is there any wonder the London taxi-cab driver feels aggrieved and let down by this giant transport authority.
The problems faced presently by my colleagues have been created by a authority who have taken it upon themselves to redefine what that believe a mini-cab office to be or as the 1998 Private hire act would say “operating centre”. Now there is plenty of case law which clearly defines what a taxi-cab rank is and who can legally “ply for hire” , however because of a complete lack of enforcement officers and lack of understanding by magistrates of the law we have the recipe not just for disaster but chaos. But who is responsible for enforcement yes you’ve guessed it transport for London after all they licence the capitals 25,000 taxi-cab drivers and 52,000 mini-cab drivers yet we have a compliance unit and enforcement branch of the Metropolitan Police that is unable to deal in a effective manner with the illegal practises of licensed operators and drivers......yes licensed operators and drivers.
The Whitcomb street project which provided a rank for mini-cab drivers will hopefully be scrapped but we must not rest until this scheme and the daft practise of mini-cab offices in bars and clubs is scrapped too, the public are getting ripped off and we are losing work large amounts of work. Therefore we must be prepared to stand up in front of a judge and explain case law is on our side, the licensing authority have never consulted with us on changes to legislation that effect our right to “ply for hire”, that they decided to redefine the 1998 Private Hire act not us. For if we lose this fight the authorities will have taken our lively hoods away by allowing mini-cabs to rank illegally and operators to tout openly on the pavements outside various bars and venues within the capital and that the same authority did very little to curtail the illegal activities of these unlicensed and licensed operators and drivers.
The drive in highlighted the problem to many within City Hall but it’s time for Bob Oddy of the LTDA to speak up for the trade at board meetings of transport for London and not just sit there in silence, at the last board meeting the drive in wasn’t even mentioned. Bob if these present talks fail I believe the only action left will be a demonstration on the Strand and Fleet outside the Royal Courts of Justice whilst we seek a judicial review inside, after all we have a Mayor who supports us yet somehow the authority he chairs doesn’t seem capable or able to deal with the problems we face here on the streets of London, just like the recent snow fall...didn’t somebody write a report about that ?
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Officials of U.S. President Barack Obama's administration have met with non-governmental organizations currently operating in Darfur, after the Sudanese president announced all aid groups must leave the country.
