And Now Top Selling Game Monopoly, Is To Go Cashless

Hasbro is to released a new edition of Monopoly called Ultimate Banking, that should help keep familial infighting to a minimum. 

Instead of paper money, which can easily be laundered or stolen when you aren't looking, this new edition uses debit cards. It also does away with the easily-corrupted Banker position, replacing the human with an electronic card reader (aka an ATM).

Both the players' debit cards and the property cards themselves will be machine readable. 

So, when purchasing property, players will first scan the property's bar code and then their own cash card. 

If they have enough money for the transaction, the funds will automatically be deducted from their account. 

Funds can also be transferred between players, if necessary. 

Removing the human influence should certainly help keep the financial shenanigans to a minimum -- just hold on to those debit cards. Monopoly Ultimate Banking will hit store shelves later this summer.

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Newark Police Show Heathrow, The Way To Go...

Uber Drivers face towing, fines at Newark Airport

Newark's chief prosecutor has warned Uber Technologies Inc. that the company's drivers are repeatedly violating the city's taxicab ordinance, and that those operating at Newark Liberty International Airport and Penn Station in Newark will have their cars towed and face fines. 

"I have instructed our police department effective Feb. 22 to immediately tow Uber drivers operating in and around Newark Airport and Newark Penn Station," wrote Evans C. Anyanwu, the city's chief prosecutor, in a letter sent late last month to Salle Yoo, Uber's general counsel in San Francisco.

"After Feb. 22, the continued violation of the city's laws will result in civil and criminal penalties for Uber and its drivers," said the letter, a copy of which was obtained Wednesday by The Record.

Uber said Wednesday it is not backing away from that business, and would not advise drivers, who are independent contractors, to avoid those areas.

"Instead of trying to restrict competition and consumer choice, Newark should be welcoming the thousands of drivers who use Uber to earn income and support their families," said company spokesman Craig Ewer in an e-mail.

"We'll continue to stand by our driver-partners by fully compensating those subject to unjust fines or citations as a result of the city's actions," Ewer said.

The app-based car-for-hire service has been operating largely unregulated in New Jersey for a couple of years and says it has about 15,000 independent contractor drivers in the state. Limousine and taxi drivers in Newark and elsewhere in New Jersey complain that Uber drivers are not properly licensed or insured. 

Uber said it provides $1.5 million in commercial liability insurance for drivers in New Jersey, which is the amount required under a state limousine law.

However, the state Department of Banking and Insurance has warned consumers and those who drive for app-based car-for-hire companies that such coverage has not been tested in the courts.

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Stabbed In The Back : Will TfL Board Implement The Sterilised PH Regs Proposals?...You Can Bet Your Life They Will.

TfL in response to a major outcry from the Taxi trade, plus a call from the GLA to make and implement certain changes to safeguard the public 

TfL agreed to hold a PH regulations consultation.

The aim...to stop the escalating amount of circumnavigation of the Private Hire Act 1998. 

And so, the Taxi trade held its breath (again)...would TfL finally come to its senses?

Using logic and common sense, would TfL bring the PH trade back into line with existing regulations?

Private Hire companies openly plying for hire through smart phone apps.

Private Hire drivers flaunting the law concerning Hire and Reward insurance. 

Drivers working for multiple operators

Private hire vehicles clogging side streets and local businesses car parks around airports and major rail hubs. Drivers defecating in the gardens of residential properties.

PH drivers, licensed by TfL in London, accepting jobs while outside of their licensed area. Drivers from outside TfL's licensing area, openly operating in Central London. 

The list seems endless. 

The preliminary draft of new regs -mostly enforcement of already existing legislation- looked promising.

They have now made it clear, their bottle went big time.

Below, in their own words:

Transport for London (TfL) is carrying out a wide-ranging review of private hire regulations. 

Detailed proposals were published for consultation in September 2015 and that aspect of the consultation closed on 23 December. 

On 20 January 2016 we gave a preliminary indication of which proposals we intend to progress. 

However, decisions on which proposals to be implemented, if any, will be taken by the TfL Board in March. 

Read the report for yourself and perhaps you can add to this list with some of your own descriptive words.    >CICK HERE<

Well, now we know.....and there are only certain words to describe TfLs actions concerning this issue:

SELLOUT, GUTLESS, SPINELESS, BACKSTABBING, COWARDLY, BIASED, LACKING COURAGE, DEVOID OF FORTITUDE, BROKEN FAITH, MISLEAD, DOUBLE CROSSED, SOLD DOWN THE RIVER. 

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Letter To MP : From Lee Ward, Chairman Of The ALPHA

My name is Lee Ward, I am the Chairman of ALPHA, a newly formed association in Sheffield, please read the attached mail I sent to the local MP. 

I am awaiting a reply still, but I think the industry would like to read it.

Dear Sir.

We apologise for this being a generic letter, but we have to gain the attention of many Members of Parliament for this to be taken notice of.

ALPHA represent the Private Hire drivers of the Taxi industry and need to bring the serious issue of the Deregulation Act 2015 to your attention, an act that has desecrated the drivers within this industry.

We, and our members feel that this Act was brought in to enable multi billion pound companies at the expense of the hard working and loyal drivers of this industry, to bypass the previous and working bylaws that previously existed under the Town Police Clauses Act 1847 or that Act as amended by the Local Government (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act 1976.

One of the first reasons given in the House of Commons is, and yes, every sitting on this Act has been read, and read again, but we will try to keep it to the basics..

New clause 10 allows private hire vehicle operators to subcontract to each other across licensing boundaries. That will allow private hire vehicle operators to work more flexibly and to grow their businesses. Passengers will be able to rely on their local operator, rather than being turned away when the operator cannot directly fulfil the booking. Under the triple licence requirement, private hire operators are licensed within a district and must use only vehicles and drivers licensed by the same local authority as granted their operator licence. It is important that that requirement remains in place for the moment, although we will revisit the whole issue when we consider the Law Commission’s report.

Travel patterns, however, are not neatly aligned with district borders. That is why private hire operators are allowed to accept bookings for journeys which go beyond the district or which are wholly outside the district. It is currently prohibited for a licensed operator to subcontract a booking to an operator in a different district. An operator can only subcontract bookings to an operator licensed in the same district. That is clearly restrictive and the Government consider it ripe for reform. 

The clause will allow a private hire operator licensed outside London—although not based in Plymouth, because of the exception—to subcontract a booking to another operator in a different district or based in London or based in Scotland. That liberalising measure will enable the private hire trade to operate in the way it sees fit, not just in the way that the restrictive legislation dictates. Operators will be able to choose, on a commercial basis, whether to fulfil a particular journey by using their own vehicles and drivers or whether it would be preferable to subcontract the booking to another, more conveniently located operator. There will be positive consequences for the environment, as there will be less dead mileage.

To say that this is the first reason to have to make such a huge change to the laws that govern this industry, we must say the reasons are very, for want of a better word, lame.

Let us take this opportunity to break this down.

New clause 10 allows private hire vehicle operators to subcontract to each other across licensing boundaries. That will allow private hire vehicle operators to work more flexibly and to grow their businesses. Passengers will be able to rely on their local operator, rather than being turned away when the operator cannot directly fulfil the booking.

How does a business grow if it is giving its work away, and how does the passenger rely on their local operator, when the operator who has taken the booking given it to another company ?

Under the triple licence requirement, private hire operators are licensed within a district and must use only vehicles and drivers licensed by the same local authority as granted their operator licence. It is important that that requirement remains in place for the moment, although we will revisit the whole issue when we consider the Law Commission’s report.

If the importance of the vehicle and driver to be licensed by the same Local Authority (LA) as the Operator who took the booking, why has the Deregulation Act 2015 not been halted until the report by the Law Commission is finished, and why change a law to perhaps go back to rethink it dependant on this report by the Law Commission ?

Travel patterns, however, are not neatly aligned with district borders. That is why private hire operators are allowed to accept bookings for journeys which go beyond the district or which are wholly outside the  district. It is currently prohibited for a licensed operator to subcontract a booking to an operator in a different district. An operator can only subcontract bookings to an operator licensed in the same district. That is clearly restrictive and the Government consider it ripe for reform.

So, lets get this bit clear.

It was legal for a Taxi/Private Hire Company to pick up and drop off outside its licensed borders, as it was also legal for the same company to pick up and drop off outside those same borders, but it was illegal for that operator to subcontract a booking to another company. How was this restrictive and ripe for reform, when it was quite clear that the customer could still book with the original company anyway ?

That liberalising measure will enable the private hire trade to operate in the way it sees fit, not just in the way that the restrictive legislation dictates.

Sorry, we cannot see what this argument is to be honest.

Operators will be able to choose, on a commercial basis, whether to fulfil a particular journey by using their own vehicles and drivers or whether it would be preferable to subcontract the booking to another, more conveniently located operator. There will be positive consequences for the environment, as there will be less dead mileage.

Ok, now it gets interesting again, sorry about that.

Operators would not choose on a commercial basis, because the journey is either viable for them or not, pretty much the same as a window fitter based in Cornwall would wish to go to Manchester to fit a bedroom window. Its simply not business savvy.

Now, what it has allowed, although its worded as ‘subcontract the booking to a more conveniently located operator’ is the ability for Uber to cover any and every job that is booked through its app.

The crux of this matter is the initial argument, as stated in the introduction to this Act in the House of Commons, that it would be a ‘more conveniently located operator’ that actually picked up and dropped this customer off, however, in the real world Uber have drivers from all licensed area’s (outside London) parked up waiting for jobs in any Town or City that Uber hold a License in, then take the app booking which the mainframe computer then looks for the nearest vehicle (due to the Deregulation Act 2015) and sends it to that vehicle regardless of whether a Licensed vehicle from the area that the booking was made happens to be sat waiting for that booking to make that driver a living.

Not quite what was made to believe in the argument for this Act to be put through, wouldn’t you agree ?

On top of this, the argument that this would cut the costs to the public for booking with a company that they know and trust has proved to be false also. Uber will surge the charges to the travelling public if they do not have a vehicle in that area, which, I am sure you will agree that this is exactly the same as a ‘pulling charge’ which an Operator would have set should that customer be asking for an out of area pick up that happened to be dropping out of area also (recall that this was a legal booking prior to the argument given for this Act of 12015)

Now, please take into account that this is just the first argument against the first reason given behind the Deregulation Act 2015 I am sure that you can see that this Act is not only unneeded, but unjustifiable. But this Act has however taken a great toll on the drivers of this industry, to a point that they are working longer hours to barely make ends meet, and will therefore rely on benefits to substitute their income. While Uber chose to use an offshore account in the Netherlands to pay the minimum amount into the UK as they can.

Now of course, we would never accuse any person in government to not be ‘playing with a straight bat’ But the following facts are rather interesting after the very brief break down of what the Deregulation Act 2015 should have been, what it was and what it actually is.

In 2012 Uber came to London

In 2012 Steve Hilton left as the Publicity guy for the Conservatives

In 2012 the government decided to start the deregulation of the Taxi and PH industry (to become the Deregulation Act 2015

Steve Hilton is married to Rachel Whetstone, their kids have the godparent that happens to be David Cameron

2015 Rachel Whetstone (who used to work for the conservatives before moving to Google) then becomes the senior vice-president of policy and communications of Uber

What we do wish, is that you as a Member of Parliament, address this issue and request that this Law (the Deregulation Act 2015) is stopped, reversed or put on hold before it cripples this industry and the hundreds of thousands that work long, hard and unsociable hours serving the community and providing for their families.

This Act, as we see it was purely for the benefit of Uber, who, as the world wide media constantly reminds us all, are purely for a profit and have no thoughts for the drivers and the conditions that they work.

We acknowledge what the media are reporting in London, but this Law that was passed in 2015 has such a widespread impact on this industry, it is almost at the point of pure saturation and families are struggling all over the country because of it.

If this was the steel industry which has been hit recently, then the whole country gets to hear about it and thePoliticians act to support it, this time, we ask that the politicians act before the industry and its drivers and families are on its knees.

 

Many thanks

Lee Ward

ALPHA Chairman

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Spanish Taxis Block Central Madrid in Car-sharing Protest

MADRID — 

More than a thousand Spanish taxi drivers blocked a central Madrid boulevard on Thursday, beeping horns and setting off firecrackers, to protest plans to open the country to greater competition from ride-hailing and car-sharing services.

Uber and other companies such as Cabify face demonstrations from taxi drivers worldwide for operating services which match private vehicle owners with customers.

Uber cannot currently operate in Spain while authorities decide their legal status, though other collaborative economy services, such as accommodation company Airbnb, are operating.

Spain's regulatory agency CNMC is expected to publish a non-binding recommendation next week which will call for greater freedom for the collaborative economy.

"Who are the CNMC defending? We are a public service and we're independent while they're defending multi-nationals," said taxi driver Marta Fernandez, 42, during the protest which shut off traffic for at least two hours.

Slackening the rules would pitch the heavily-regulated taxi sector, which requires licenses and closely monitored quality and safety controls, against untested drivers which operate with little, or no, restrictions, taxi unions say.

The Spanish regulator says, meanwhile, that the shared economy structure offers freedom of choice to consumers in terms of quality and price with which traditional businesses should be encouraged to compete.

"The CNMC's function within the Spanish society is to defend these freedoms to the benefit of the people," president of the CNMC Jose Maria Marin Quemada said in statement to Reuters.

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Mrs Pat Bissett's Letter To Private Eye's Ian Hislop

Dear Mr Hislop,

 

I am the wife of a Black Taxi driver and I am writing to you because I believe that you are one of the few people left who are not afraid to question the government and opposition in equal measure.

On Wednesday 10 February 2016, 10,000 Black Taxis demonstrated in Central London against the interference of the Government in the regulation of Black Taxis and Private Hire services in London.  This demonstration brought Central London to a standstill, but you would never know it unless you were there! There was a complete news blackout as far as the BBC was concerned; there was nothing on BBC London and nothing on BBC radio, not even the local news. 

Now it is believed that something called a Section D was imposed, something that is only used in times of war and terror attacks!! Now I have no proof of this but it is hard to explain why there was no TV coverage and nothing in any of the national newspapers. The whole of Central London was brought to a halt for 2 hours and that is not even worth a mention, is it bad journalism or is it something else? I might add that the story made the evening news all over Europe and even as far as Thailand!

The 25,000 Black Taxi drivers in London feel they are being unfairly treated. They have to abide by such strict regulations or risk losing their badges and the Government is interfering in decisions that are nothing to do with them. George Osborne lobbied Boris and told him to “leave Uber alone” this is a fact admitted by Boris. Why? 

Is it because Rachel Whetstone (Senior Vice President of Communications and Public Policy for Uber Technologies Inc) is a close personal friend of David Cameron? Boris claims that he had never met any of Uber’s representatives, this is not true, and there is picture evidence to prove this, see attached.

Meetings took place between the deputy leader of TFL, Isobel Dedring and Uber before the consultation with Black Taxi representatives, and other private hire representatives, when Tom Watson contacted TFL and requested a copy of the minutes from the meeting he was told that no minutes were taken.  

If this meeting was above board, I find it very hard to believe that in this day and age when so many public figures are scrutinised by the media, why there were no minutes. Having said that, I also find it hard to believe that Tom Watson has just accepted this. He was so tenacious over the phone hacking!  

TFL are issuing 600 private hire licences a week! TFL have asked the government to change legislation so they can cut the number of licences they issue. The government refuses. Why? If the government can interfere regarding Uber which is nothing to do with them, then why can’t they interfere regarding the change in legislation for private hire licences?

Uber made £866,000 profit  in the UK last year and yet only paid £22,000 Corporation Tax because the are permitted to legally transfer their profits to its sister company in the Netherlands. So it is even harder to understand why the government is backing Uber, the Treasury is not earning anything from them.

Uber trades as a technology company and therefore is not responsible for making sure that every driver has the correct insurance for the vehicle they are driving to be used as a private hire.

Now I come to the background checks for Black Taxi and private hire drivers; Private hire drivers do have background checks but where the system falls down is if a person hasn’t been in the country for more that 3 years all they need is a note of good conduct from whichever country they originated from. 

Some countries are exempt from background checks and if you are a refugee no checks can be run! Now this above all the things that are wrong, is the worst in my opinion. The reason that private hire drivers were licenced and had background checks in the first place was because of the campaign started by Suzy Lamplugh’s mother to ensure that it was safe for young women to use private hire cars. 

Now we find out that the checks are not worth the paper they are printed on and in many cases not done at all. Black Taxi drivers are monitored rigorously every three years and the drivers have to pay for the checks themselves! If they don’t they lose their badges! Ask yourself, would you want a friend or loved one to get into a vehicle that may or may not have incorrect insurance (not hire and reward), that may or may not have a sex pest as a driver! 

The amount of complaints of sexual assault by private hire drivers is on the rise and TFL are keeping the figures hidden because they don’t want to scare the public. 

Offences 2015: 

Total allegations 180, 

Arrests 115 – 68 PHV Licenced 44 Unlicensed.

When I tell people this they are very quick to remind me about John Worboys, and I agree, background checks don’t always keep us safe, but John Worboys is one Black Taxi driver, and that dates back to 2009!

Uber think its all about technology and apps, well Black Taxis had apps for booking long before Uber came on the scene, there is Hailo and Get Taxi, both very well subscribed to by Black Taxi drivers. 

The misconception is that Uber is cheaper, not true; many tests have been done to prove this. Uber have price surges according to any given situation, Christmas, New Year, bank holidays, tube strike, bus strike, snow, rain, R in the month!; a black cab has their meter set by TFL, there are no double or triple fares ever!

Uber want to make the Knowledge easier and use SatNav technology. The reason that the London Black Taxi is the best in the world is because of the high standard set by having to do the Knowledge.

There is something rotten going on, many think its corruption, it’s hard to disagree. I don’t understand why journalists are not asking more questions, every licenced taxi driver in Europe is fighting Uber and is covered on TV news and in print but not in the UK why?

I have requested your help in the past (Sam Hallam) and thankfully you gave it, please help again the Black Taxis, are part of London and have been since 1654, don’t let them disappear.

Thank you for any help you can give us

Mrs Pat Bissett

Info regarding the photo attached: Clockwise: 

Etonian buddies, Cameron and Osborne with very close friend Steven Hilton, who also worked for the PM as Director of Policy Strategy 

Steven Hilton is married to Rachel Whetstone, seen here when she was an advisor to tory MP Michael Howard. David Cameron is so close to the couple he is Godparent to one of their children. Rachel Whetstone is also godparent to one of DC children (Ivan RIP).  Rachel Whetstone is Senior Vice President of Communications and Public Policy for Uber Technologies Inc

Boris Claims he has never met any of Uber’s representatives. Seen here in convivial mood with Rachel Whetstone!

And finally, a picture of Boris with his brother who works for Goldman Sachs, one time, main investor of Uber Tech Inc -reports now are that Goldman are trying to distance themselves from Uber because of the bad publicity world wide!

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