Manchester Taxis In Protest Over Out Of Town Taxis

Hundreds of protesting taxi drivers bought traffic to a halt in Manchester city centre yesterday afternoon.

The drivers made their way through the city centre demanding action against cabs they say are illegally operating in Manchester. Many of the Illegal cars working in the area are licensed by TfL.

Over 1,000 Taxis journeyed from Manchester United’s Old Trafford ground via Deansgate to Salford at 1pm yesterday afternoon.

They say that other drivers are illegally working in the Manchester borough without the relevant licence and taking their custom.

Instead of securing a Manchester licence up to 6,000 drivers are getting one elsewhere - where they say the process is quicker and easier - and then coming into the city to find fares.

Luckvear Singh, 47, a Manchester driver of five years, said: 

"This is having a big effect. They are coming into Manchester because there is more business but they need to have a Manchester licence.

"We have lost a lot of revenue, 30 to 40 per cent, a lot of drivers are now struggling to make ends meet and some are giving up.

"Manchester City Council needs to take action against this and take our protest seriously. The public also needs to be aware what is happening".

Finally, the last taxis involved in the protest made their way out of the city towards Salford and MediaCity. 

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Lord Alan Sugar Supports London's Taxi Drivers And Refuses To Support The Call To Keep Uber.

Lucy Siegle's report on 'The One Show' -in regards to Dara Khosrowshah's visit to London to sort out Uber's revocation- was biased beyond belief. Not once did she mention last year's 48 Uber drivers convicted of serious sexual assaults including rapes, a 50% increase on the previous years 32.

#UberRape is presently running at one every eleven days....that's just from the 10 percent of reported attacks. In reality it could be as high as one actual attack every fifteen hours.

The One Show presenter touched very lightly on "a problem with background checks and medicals" but didn't give any details. She didn't mentioned the 13,000 Uber drivers who have fake DBS certificates with about the same again, having fake medicals. No mention either about Fake topographical pass certificates.

But things took a dramatic turn when Lord Alan Sugar was asked, "would you support he call to keep Uber? "

To the presenters surprise he answer... "Not at he moment, I have to think about our friends the black taxi drivers that have gone through a lot of training and testing before...." He was then cut off by guest presenter Amol Rejan, who then moved on.

https://twitter.com/thomasthetaxi/status/915288023973203968

   Presenters Amol Rejan, Alex Jones and Lucy Siegle.

The BBC -itself riddled with staff who have a history of collusion and suppression of stories about rape and Paedophilia- have tried repeatedly to muddy the waters between Taxis and Private Hire. 

They insist on calling Minicabs/Private Hire Vehicles 'Taxis' at every possible opportunity and continue to call Minicab drivers 'Taxi drivers' or 'Cabbies', even after complaints from the Licensed Taxi trade. Presenter Jeremy Vine, aggressively attacks the Taxi trade and supports Uber at every opportunity.

   

Worst of all....TfL knew about all of this since January and was going to sweep it under the carpet until inspector Neil Billany wrote to TfL demanding action. His letter was subsequently found by DBS check and past to the Sunday Times  by the LCDC. 

Now we find that the Inspector, who suddenly went in garden leave, is leaving his job???

Was he pressured into leaving?

Well the London Taxi trade would like to take this opportunity of suggesting Mr Billany for the role of Director of On Street Compliance at TfL. It would be so refreshing to know that we would finally have someone in TfL who would do the job without bias against the Licensed Taxi trade and would put public safety above all else. 

Taxi Leaks Extra Bit:

Drivers at London airport have alleged that BBC reporters were seen trying to get Licensed Taxi drivers on the rank to refuse to take Mr Khosrowshah into town. But had to abandon the set up when every driver agreed to take him regardless of who he was. 

We recently saw a film crew from ITV news company try to fix a news item which purported to show Taxi drivers not stopping for a wheelchair passenger. 

http://ift.tt/2yY5HFz

Fortunately for the Taxi trade, it was quite evident that all the Taxis 'Hailed' had their lights off or had passengers on board. When this was pointed out, the disabled actress in the sting attempt apologised to the Taxi trade saying she didn't realise what was happening and that she always uses black cabs and has had no problems in the past. This was reported on Taxi Leaks. 

A question that would be interesting for The One Show:

Is TFL's continuing licensing of Uber, illegal state aid...as all other PH operators have to pay VAT?
http://ift.tt/2fJCy8J

Over to you Lucy Siegle.

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Uber 'unlikely to get its London licence back' after crunch talks with TfL

The emergency summit between the bosses of Uber and Transport for London is unlikely to result in an immediate breakthrough leading to a restoration of the cab hailing app’s licence, sources said today.

Uber chief executive’s Dara Khosrowshahi meeting with London Transport Commissioner Mike Brown will start a “hopefully constructive dialogue” that will help both sides understand each other’s position, according to figures close to the company.

Mr Khosrowshahi flew into London for today’s crunch talks following TfL’s bombshell decision to strip Uber of its licence to operate in the capital at the end of September. 

No details have been revealed of the timing or location of the meeting because of its extreme sensitivity.

Industry watchers said it was indication of how high the stakes are in London that the Uber boss was prepared to quit dealing with a boardroom battle in San Francisco and fly half way round the world in a bid to patch up relation with TfL.

The Uber board is today expected to vote on reforms that could limit the power of former chief executive Travis Kalanick. Mr Kalanick, who is still one of the firm’s biggest shareholders, appointed two new directors in a surprise move on Friday.

The meeting comes the day after the tech giant’s UK boss Jo Bertram quit the company after four years.

TfL regulators ruled last month that Uber was not a “fit and proper” company to hold an operating licence citing concerns about how it carries out backgrond checks on drivers and how it reports serious criminal offences.

However, its 40,000 London drivers have been allowed to continue working pending an appeal of the decision.

Mayor Sadiq Khan authorised the “peace talks” after Mr Khosrowshahi issued a public apology in a letter in the Evening Standard. The letter said that “while Uber has revolutionised the way people move around in cities around the world, its equally true that we’ve got things wrong along the way.”

Source Evening Standard 

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Czech taxi drivers blockade Prague airport in protest against Uber

Another country where Uber thinks it's easier to ask for forgiveness than permission 

Czech taxi drivers are blocking a major road to Prague's International Airport on Monday (2 October) to protest against Uber and other similar ride-hailing services.

The protest began with taxis driving slowly in both directions on a key road to Prague's Vaclav Havel airport, causing traffic delays.

The protest comes after inconclusive talks between the drivers and City Hall, which says only the government is in a position to address the complaints.

The drivers claim Uber and other ride-hailing apps are illegal because they don't meet all the requirements traditional taxi companies have to.

The airport has advised passengers to use public buses, which drive along a special route not open to other forms of transport.

Recently, Uber had its licence to operate in London withdrawn, although the taxi hailing app is appealing the move against it by Transport for London

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Uber's UK Boss Jo Bertram, Quits As Firm Battles To Keep London License

Fake Medicals, Fake Topographical Tests, Fake DBS Checks...And Now Fake Uber Drivers

First we had fake medicals!

Then we had fake topographical tests!

Then we had fake DBS certificates!

Then we had Uber's fake petition!

And now we have fake Uber drivers ? 

https://youtu.be/eqmcpyUVebw

It is alleged that the Uber drIver  in this program "Round Table" DAVID SINCLAIR, is actually a journalist and has a parallel profession as a singer guitarist in a rock group. 

 David Sinclair was born on October 24, 1952. He was educated at Eltham College, London and at Warwick University, where he graduated in 1975 with an honours degree in Politics.

We are being asked to believe that he is extremely happy working for Uber where he claims to be earning (on average) £10 an hour...

http://ift.tt/2fF6GSr

This guy is a published author, music critic, writes for several newspapers and has released the album "Hey"....and we're asked to believe he has to top up his income -earning just over the minimum wage- driving for Uber???

It's not hard to check...his name, doesn't show up on the TfL private hire driver check website.

So unless he is using a pseudonym, conclusive proof he's a plant a fake?

The program also mentions the direct link between driver and passenger, predator pricing and the erosion of traditional workers rights. The company has been red lined by TfL in London as not being fit and proper after news hit the nationals by way if the Sunday Times (thanks to the LCDC's work) that Uber were not passing on to the police complaints of serious sexual assaults by drivers on passengers. 

It's all about safety:

Officially an Uber driver sexually assaults a passenger every 11 days, but with the fact that over 85% of such attacks go unreported, the frequency could be as much as one assault every 15 hours. 

Over the week end, the tide of opinion has changed with London's agreeing with the TfL ban.

According to a YouGov poll for Queen Mary University of London, (published in the Guardian) 43% back the decision, while only 31% oppose it.

Another question we would ask... if Uber haven't done anything wrong, why then did their CEO say he was coming to London later this week to apologise to TfL for the way they've behaved. 

If you've 'done nothing wrong' why would you apologise. 

Perhaps this could top all the other fakes off nicely, as a fake apology.  

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UberRape, Getting National Coverage : Uber drivers’ ‘sex attacks’ across Britain

At last, the word about UberRape is getting out to the public. This article to day, appeared in the Sunday Times. 

Uber drivers have been accused of more than a dozen sex attacks, including at least two rapes, outside London.

Alleged sexual assaults were reported to six police forces outside the capital, according to data released under freedom of information laws, revealing the scale of the ride-sharing group’s security problems.

Forces in Greater Manchester, South Yorkshire, West Yorkshire, Leicestershire, Warwickshire and Avon and Somerset have recorded 13 alleged sex attacks by Uber drivers since 2015.

Greater Manchester police recorded three alleged sexual assaults and one alleged rape by Uber drivers, while South Yorkshire police investigated one alleged sexual assault and an alleged rape. West Yorkshire police recorded three alleged sexual offences involving Uber drivers, while Avon and Somerset investigated two and Warwickshire and Leicestershire each recorded one.

The true number of cases nationwide could be much higher, as 20 of the 45 forces across Britain asked by The Sunday Times for information on Uber’s public safety record either refused to provide figures on the grounds of cost or did not respond.

The 19 forces that did respond either had no cases reported against Uber drivers or recorded offences that were not of a sexual nature. Eleven forces in total revealed that they had recorded reported crimes by Uber drivers, including violence against the person, theft, handling stolen goods and drug offences.

The figures were released as Uber fights to keep operating in the capital after Transport for London (TfL) decided not to renew its licence. The announcement led to speculation that councils across the UK would follow London’s example.

TfL bosses accused the company of failing to ensure passenger safety after the number of alleged sex attacks involving Uber drivers in London rose 50%, to 48, in the 12 months to February 2017.

Dara Khosrowshahi, Uber’s chief executive, will be in London on Tuesday to meet regulators. He hopes to stop the revoking of his company’s licence, which was due to expire last night. Uber will be allowed to continue operating while it appeals against TfL’s decision.

The meeting, which TfL said was instigated by an approach from Uber, comes days after Khosrowshahi wrote an open apology to Londoners, saying “we have got things wrong”.

Uber said: “Drivers who use our app are licensed by a local council and have gone through the same enhanced DBS checks as black cab drivers and others. We take any allegations of this nature seriously, working with the police and preventing drivers using the app while any investigations take place. Our GPS technology means that every trip is electronically tracked and recorded.”

Source : Sunday Times

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