BREAKING NEWS : D-DAY HAS ARRIVED. DRIVE-IN DAY, WED 8th FEB, AT 12 NOON

IN SUPPORT OF SGT BLACKMAN 

PLEASE TRY TO SUPPORT & SOUND YOUR HORN.

We've had a personal request from Sgt Blackman's Campaign Team, asking if we could support his court hearing on the 8th Feb.

They were overwhelmed with the previous support and their heart felt gratitude to all that attended. 

Cabbies were brilliant at the bail hearing in December. Various Judges inside the Law Courts, were calling people to go outside and find where the nose was coming from and when it would stop!

Please pass this message on to all you cabby friends in the shelters and on the ranks. 

Please spare 1 hour in a show of support.

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Puff And The Magic Dragons Den : .....It Couldn't Happen....Could It ?

Found this on a facebook forum, made me chuckle while also getting the point across....Written by Andrew Peters From Hove.

Hello Dragons..
I am asking for a few million to start up a new cab service for 10% equity...

The business model:
I intend to get the business going by pushing the boundaries of the law.. although we don't really like using the word 'boundaries' because we do not think there should be any 'boundaries' in what we are trying to achieve.. which is global domination of the taxi trade.

Dragon: So you are going to be a taxi company.

Me: No I am going to create a technology company

Dragon: Sorry... I do not understand? You are going to be offering a taxi service to the public?

Me: No.. I am not offering a taxi service to anyone. I want to 'reach out' by offering the technology to connect the public to taxis around the world.

Dragon: So you are going to be a global taxi company?

Me: No.. I want to offer a platform that people who own taxis can connect with the public.

Dragon: So you want to be a global company offering a taxi service?

Me: No... I want to offer a platform that people who own taxis can connect with the public.

Dragon: Ok.. let me put it another way. You want to offer a service where people use your technology to order a taxi.

Me: Yes
Dragon: So you want to be a global taxi company?
Me: No

Dragon: Sorry.. I am getting a little bit lost here. You want to provide a service via your technology so people can get a taxi.

Me: Yes

Dragon: Isn’t that what taxi companies do?
Me: Yes

Dragon: So you are going to do the same?

Me: Yes

Dragon: So you ‘are’ going to be a taxi service..albeit with a bit of 'technology'?

Me: Well.. yes and no.

Dragon: Which part is ‘Yes’ and which part is ‘No’

Me: Yes it is technology. No it is not a taxi service..

Dragon: Mmmmm. We are talking about actual taxis aren’t we. You know the ones that can be hailed in the streets and sit on ranks. The ones that are referred to as hackney carriages?

Me: No... Private hire cars

Dragon: Ahh......ok so we are now getting somewhere.. You are going to be a Private Hire Operator

Me: No... a technology company

Dragon: So you will not need a Private Hire Operators licence in the UK for each area you want to be in.

Me: Yes

Dragon: This is really confusing??? So you will need a Private Hire Operators licence even though you say you are not going to be a Private Hire Operator?

Me: Yes

Dragon: Ok.. let’s move on here... You want us to give you a few million.

Me: Yes
Dragon: What do you intend to do with a few million?

Me: Invest it..
Dragon: So you want us to give you a few million for you to invest?

Me: Yes

Dragon: Interesting.... where will you invest it

Me: In online discount voucher codes

Dragon: Sorry.... I am not following this... it appears that you are simply giving away my money?

Me: Yes

Dragon: But anyone can give away money if it doesn’t belong to them.

Me: Yes this is true but this should be regarded as a big investment for you.

Dragon: I am really sorry... but I am totally lost here. If we give you a few million which you then give away.... then how does that equate to being an investment for us?

Me: Because by offering big discounts to people who use our technology to ‘connect’ to a taxi.......

Dragon: ..... you mean a private hire vehicle?

Me: Yes sorry.... Because by offering big discounts to people who use our technology to ‘connect’ to a private hire vehicle we can undercut any opposition.

Dragon: I see... so you would like us to be involved in an illegal practice of what is known as “Predatory Pricing”

Me: What’s that?

Dragon: Well here is a free lesson for you. ‘Predatory Pricing’ occurs when a firm sells goods or service at a price below cost (or very cheaply) with the intention of forcing rival firms out of business. Once the rival firms are no longer around then Predatory company put up the prices even to the extent of actually raising the prices far above any previous price that the now long lost rival company was charging.

Me: Yeah... good init...

Dragon: Mmmmm ... ok... now putting that aside I think you are going to need more than a few million

Me: Spot on!

Dragon: So... you would want me to then give you a few more million?

Me: Possibly... but I intend to go international so I will be looking for a lot more ‘investors’ to give me more money

Dragon: How many investors?

Me: Oh loads more because it is going to take time. But we know that as we keep giving the discount codes away then eventually the rivals will disappear and then we will be the only private hire service!

Dragon: Hold on! Private hire service????

Me: Sorry.. yes.. got confused there... We will be the only technology company that the public will have to use to ‘connect’ with a private hire vehicle. Can we call them ‘cabs’ please

Dragon: Ok... we can call them cabs... Tell us more about the drivers

Me: Who?

Dragon: The drivers.. you know the drivers of those cabs
Me: Oh them... yes .. the drivers on our ‘platform’ , What would you like to know?

Dragon: Well how do these drivers on your ‘platform’ make any money

Me: We charge 25% of each journey... at the moment...
Dragon: At the moment?

Me: Yes... at the moment... but we will more than likely increase this when we have the full monopoly... and we will also have ‘Surge Pricing!”

Dragon: Explain Surge Pricing?

Me: This is where we can randomly boost the cost of a cab journey.... whenever we like. We can put the price up to double.. triple..quadruple .. or however much we want.. whenever we want.....if it rains... if it is windy... rush hour... slow hour.. you name it.. we’ll Surge Price it....

Dragon: Can you stop rubbing your hands please...

Me: Sorry

Dragon: So unlike local councils who control the price of hackney carriage taxi fares to protect the public your type of pricing is completely the opposite... you raise the prices when you think fit?

Me: Yep.. you got it...

Dragon: But why would the public use you and your ‘Surge Pricing’ when they could use cabs with controlled prices?

Me: Ahh.. but that is the beauty of it all.. You give me a few million so I can subsidise the fares with your money... which means we can undercut fares some of the time and it will eventually wipe out the competition!!

Dragon: Ok... but going back to what I was previously saying that I think you are going need more than a few million from us. In fact it looks like you will need billions!

Me: Yes! Exciting isn’t it! But that is not all!

Dragon: Go on...

Me: Some of that money is in fact also going into a sideline project...

Dragon: Oh good... I thought it was just one venture... tell me more..

Me: We are developing ..... self driving cars!

Dragon: Mmmmm interesting. So that means we can swap our own cars for self driving ones?

Me: No.. not at all... We are going to have self driving tax..... sorry... cabs

Dragon: So what happens to all those drivers who are now on your platform..

Me: Who?

Dragon: The drivers! The ones which more than likely left the old taxi/private hire companies that are now linked to your ‘technology’

Me: Oh them.! They will be off the ‘platform’ once we get those self driving cabs rolled out.

Dragon: So you don’t feel that you have any responsibility to those drivers who are contributing to your intended worldwide domination?

Me: Absolutely not! It’s not as if they are employees with rights!

Dragon: Mmmmmm.. What happens if you do not get enough drivers on to your ‘platform’ in one area?

Me: Easy... we get drivers to come and work from another area.. simples!

Dragon: But surely each area has different conditions of licensing

Me: And???

Dragon: You dont see that as an issue?

Me: Nope!

Dragon: Ok... Now going back to my investment...

Me: Yes!

Dragon: Can you please stop rubbing your hands...

Me: Sorry

Dragon: I do not see that I would ever get my money back within my own lifetime... Also.. it looks like there would need to be hundreds .. if not thousands of other investors that would need to be throwing money at this... which for all intentions and purposes looks like a very... very deep money pit....

I think that you may do alright in the short term. However.. the long term is a completely different issue.

I predict that you will eventually be confronted with unhappy investors becoming impatient to see a return from the investment.

I foresee your drivers having to work excessive hours with your intention to raise the commission rate although more probably you will still have enough new drivers coming in as the old exhausted drivers drop out.

I can foresee numerous legal challenges to your business model as you push the boundaries in forcing changes to statutory regulations to suit your business.

With regard to ‘Self Driving Cars’ I think you are living on a different planet. I believe that this is just a ruse and a plaything for you to give the appearance to your ‘investors’ that they should keep holding on to the hope that such technology will be result in a massive return on the billions that has been poured on you.

Taking all of this into consideration I think I can speak on behalf of the rest of the Dragons when I say..

“We’re out”

Can I call you a taxi?

With a thanks to Lee Ward. 

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Driver Observed Compliance Statistics For Saturday 04/02/17

We can't get Compliance to do their job properly in Central London. You got no chance over in Southend!

Compliance Statistics For Saturday

04/02/17

As you can see, a complete abandonment of the travelling public by TFL. Strangers jumping into strangers cars. 

Congratulations to Paul Coghlan for his video below, which has inspired an operation neon team of 8 compliance officers to mount a presents in Shoreditch. Unfortunately, said officers were seen by drivers walking around aimlessly.

  

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One year on: TfL to review Elephant & Castle junction changes

News of the "post-implementation review" came at Saturday's meeting of Borough, Bankside & Walworth Community Council in a written response to a question tabled last year.

At meetings last autumn the community council heard complaints from residents of Harper Road – as well as back-streets in Walworth – which are now being used by motorists avoiding the Elephant junction.

In a written response Southwark Councilsaid: "We have received a number of complaints from other residents regarding the change in traffic patterns in the last 12 months in the networks surrounding Elephant & Castle.

"Transport for London will be undertaking a 12-month post-implementation review of the Elephant & Castle scheme in April 2017.

"Officers will need to analyse the data against 'before' traffic counts and consider what options may be available to address any issues.

"Officers will be able to update the community council in mid-May

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House of Frauds: Cheating peers claim £300 for just a few minutes' work while their taxis run outside, says the 'Baroness of Excess'

Politicians are facing a new expenses scandal over reports that cheating peers claim £300 a day for turning up to the Lords for a few minutes while keeping a taxi running outside.

A row erupted last night over comments by former Lords Speaker Baroness D’Souza in a new fly-on-the-wall documentary. 

She reportedly said ‘many’ peers did no work and that one arrived by taxi, then left in the same vehicle ten minutes later. She did not identify the culprit.

Lady D’Souza’s intervention is all the more remarkable given that she came under fire last year for charging £230 expenses for keeping her chauffeur-driven car waiting four hours while she went to the opera on official duty.

Her comments in the BBC programme follow persistent rumours of widespread abuse of the way peers can claim a £300 tax-free daily allowance simply by turning up and ‘clocking in’.

They do not have to speak in the chamber or, say critics, prove they have done any work to get paid.

There were gasps of shock when Lady D’Souza – nicknamed the Baroness of Excess – appeared to confirm it at a private screening to peers of the first episode of the three-part series called Meet The Lords, which is due to be broadcast later this month. 

One peer said: ‘She said there is a core of peers who work incredibly hard but many who do not do anything.

The House of Lords during the State Opening of Parliament. Baroness D'Souza's comments follow persistent rumours of widespread abuse of the way peers can claim a £300 tax-free daily allowance simply by turning up and ‘clocking in’

‘She said she was leaving one day and saw a peer – who she would not name – who got out of a taxi, told the cabbie to keep the engine running, went into the Lords, came back in ten minutes, got back in the taxi and left.

‘The clear implication was that the peer was on the fiddle and wasn’t the only one. People couldn’t believe she said it. It was blatant double standards.’

Until a few months ago, Lady D’Souza, 72, was Lords Speaker, responsible for presiding over debates in the Upper House. 

In 2015, it emerged she had run up a £30,000 bill for entertaining dignitaries over five years, including £1,120 for taking Russian delegates to the ballet.

She also claimed £230 for a chauffeur-driven car which waited outside for four hours while she watched an opera.

Lady D’Souza, who was paid £101,000 a year as Speaker, with allowances of up to £36,000, defended her spending record. 

She said it was her job to ‘promote parliamentary democracy’ and insisted that it was not ‘an excessive amount of money’. She also said taxpayers did not begrudge her spending £4,000 on flowers to brighten up her office.

Former Tory chairman Lord Tebbit criticised the documentary for its 'sneering' tone and for trivialising the Lords

Peers get £300 a day plus subsidised restaurants and travel expenses for those who live outside London. In 2015, it was claimed 20 ‘silent’ peers had claimed £1.6 million in expenses despite having made virtually no speeches in five years. 

It was also alleged that 117 peers – one in seven – did not speak in the chamber in 2015.

Former Tory chairman Lord Tebbit said: ‘The BBC film adopts a typically sneering tone and has trivialised the Lords. 

‘Yes, some peers sit around reading the paper in the library and prop up the bar. But there are brilliant men and women on all sides who work harder than MPs and get paid less for it.’

Lady D’Souza declined to comment last night. A BBC spokesman said: ‘Baroness D’Souza is a highly respected peer whose opinion on the proper functioning of the Lords is clearly a matter of some public interest.’

A House of Lords spokesman insisted the documentary showed how it was doing its work as ‘an active and effective revising chamber’.

Source : Daily Mail 

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Thousands of angry Brexit voters sign petition to remove Sadiq Khan as Mayor of London over EU row

Daily Compliance Statistics 03/02/17 From Drive Observations ... By Gerald Coba

Still taken from the Londonist Video.

Compliance officer, insisting a driver remove a transparent rear screen sticker.

Reason given...its blocking the view from your rear view mirror.

Question to CO Steve Ibbotson, , should we remove all the Credit Card Reader that are affixed to the Taxi partition completely blocking our view from the rear view mirror ?

Or is there one rule for us, and another rule for TfL?

      COMPLIANCE DRIVER OBSERVATIONS 

      STATISTICS FRIDAY 03/02/17

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