Campaign for Air Pollution Public Inquiry PRESS RELEASE www.cappi.org.uk ... By Dave Davies

TO BE, OR NOT TO BE .... SHOULD WE PROTEST IN JANUARY?

The ITA have called a number of protests later this month, against TFL's decision to allow an unlicensed Private Hire eHailng app to carry on working with the public, after refusing to relicense the compan who they consider to be not fit and proper. 

The article below was first published on the Dads Defending Daughters website on Monday 1st of January 2018. 

Let’s not forget Uber are still operating as they have been for the past five or so years. In that sense, what has changed?

Despite the following, TfL have allowed Uber to continue to operate under appeal:
• Uber's approach to reporting serious criminal offences including a rise in sexual assaults & rapes.
• Uber's approach to how medical certificates are obtained.
• Uber's approach to how Enhanced Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS) checks are obtained.
• Uber's approach to explaining the use of Greyball in London - software that could be used to block regulatory bodies from gaining full access to the app and prevent officials from undertaking regulatory or law enforcement duties.
• An increase in road traffic accidents.
• VAT avoidance allowing 'Uber' the ability to directly undercut taxi drivers regulated fare*

*Orthodox licensing looked at the licensable activity and didn't concern itself with the financial background; R v Warrington Crown Court, ex p CC of Cheshire:
http://ift.tt/2CgYzVT

However, the climate has changed and now all sorts of criminality is taken into account; see para 11.27 of the s.182 Guidance:
http://ift.tt/2CgYzVT

And see Hanif v East Lindsey:
http://ift.tt/2CL8Vye

(a) Why should Taxi drivers have to fund a VAT case against 'Uber' when TfL have the legal tools to ensure Uber pay their correct taxes?

(b) If TfL decided that 'Uber' was not a 'fit & proper' company on public safety grounds they had the power to revoke Uber's license without allowing them to operate while under appeal on public safety grounds [s 17(2) 1998 PH act].

(c) Was TfL's decision not to renew Uber's license a financial decision or a public safety decision?
Given the fact point (b) granted TfL an immediate right to revoke Uber’s license on public safety grounds, we believe that the Mayor took the option not to protect the public, but instead to protect TFL financially – If the Mayor had revoked Uber’s license on public safety grounds and not allowed them to operate while under appeal, TfL would be exposed to a financial claim for any losses should Uber have won the appeal.

(d) So ask yourself, does TfL really want a legal battle with Uber?

(e) If the answer to (d) is Yes, then why didn't TfL revoke Uber’'s license and protect the public while the appeal process was carried out?

(f) TfL instructed Deloitte to undertake a review of Uber's 'booking process'; they claim that the driver accepts the booking before the operator. If TfL believe this to be the case, why are they still allowing them to operate illegally?

(g) Uber’s T&C's claim that the driver is contracted to Uber BV, the customer pays their fare to Uber BV, the customer’s receipt is provided by Uber BV.

If TfL/Deloitte are correct it'd suggest that the booking investigation would confirm (1) the customer makes the request to; (2) the unlicensed Uber BV, who  are making the provision for the invitation of the booking (3) the driver accepts the booking (4) Uber London do nothing, and just record the booking after the driver has accepted.

(h) If we are not going to peacefully protest over this illegal process, what happens when we are steamrollered byTaxify, Lyft or any other Private Hire tech company who want to break the rules and operate here. After all, Taxify have already admitted the driver accepts the job before the operator.

Editor's note:

Will this email to Mike Brown, ever receive a reply?

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Tax Man No Longer Taking Credit Cards After January 13 2018.

You should be receiving a letter from HMRC with your taxi bill, saying no credit card payments will be taken from January 13

Hundreds of thousands of taxpayers, including over stretched Taxi Drivers, hoping to defer the pain of their annual tax bill by paying on plastic will be hit by an HM Revenue & Customs ban on personal credit card payments which comes into force from January 13. 

The ban is a response to new rules that mean HMRC will no longer be able to pass on the bank charges for processing credit card payments. 

Especially ironic for London Taxi drivers who have been forced to accept this type of payment for over a year, plus told they must absorb the transaction costs. We had no choice, to quote our largest Org's General Secretary..."It was a done deal".  

The timing is likely to cause difficulties for some of the 11m Britons trying to complete their annual tax return, as it comes just before the January 31 deadline for settling 2016-17 tax liabilities.

HMRC have sent out written warnings with tax bills this month stating: 

“From 13 January 2018 HMRC will no longer accept payment by personal credit card. Debit cards and corporate credit cards continue to be accepted.”

Taxpayers are advised to settle their bills using direct debit, online or telephone banking services provided by their bank. 

Observers said the ban might surprise some taxpayers, especially the self-employed like London's Taxi drivers, who often pay by credit card in order to spread the cost of a large bill. 

We've had an extremely lean few years ago d are expected to pay our tax up front. Man drivers won't have this kind of ready cash laying around and will have to resort to loans of one kind or another.

“I know that I will not be able to pay my tax bill in cash — and why should I?” complained Brian Barrett, an accountant from Chipping Norton who said he only received a letter outlining the ban in mid-December. 

“Pulling the payment rug out from beneath me at such short notice should simply not happen. I understand that the legislation banning card payments may have been around for many months — why has HMRC not given people more time to plan their payments?”

James Daley, managing director of Fairer Finance, a research group that campaigned to have card charges outlawed, said the outcome was “never the point of the campaign”. He said the decision amounted to “penny pinching” by HMRC and would cause problems for taxpayers. It just goes to show the truth in the old saying 'Be careful what you wish for, it might just come true'.

“More people are self-employed these days. Tax bills can be quite large and some people need to put them on credit cards,” he said.

Jordan Marshall, policy development manager of IPSE, a professional body for freelancers, said: “This change has not been well-publicised by HMRC. Banning credit card payments just before the self-assessment deadline is likely to create problems for both freelancers and the tax authorities. 

HMRC said that, as a public funded body, it was unable to absorb the cost of personal credit card fees because this would ultimately mean charging the fees back to customers through the public purse. Funny how those in authority expect Taxi drivers to absorb credit and transaction charges!

When HMRC introduced the ability to pay by credit card in 2008, there were fears it would encourage people not to put money aside to pay for tax. It has become a popular option, especially after credit card payment charges levied by HMRC were cut to around 0.4 per cent in April 2016. 

Taxpayers who want to use credit cards are being urged to file their returns and pay their tax bills before 13 January. After that, the options open to those currently reliant on credit cards to fund their tax payments include taking out a personal loan. 

Alternatively they could use money transfer credit cards to borrow money and transfer it to their bank accounts. They might also be able to negotiate “time to pay” with HMRC. 

Taxpayers are also, no longer able to pay by cash or cheque at the Post Office, after the Post Office Transcash service ended on 15 December 2017. The ICAEW, the accountancy body, said the move followed the expiry of the contract with Santander which allowed this method of payment. 

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Exclusive : The enemy is much closer to home. By Sean Paul Day.

It could be that we are seeing an end to Uber’s diabolical plan to rule the world by presenting itself as something that exists outside of human comprehension. The reality being, the vested interests (of which there were many) wanted Uber to exist outside the parameters of regulation. And the Conservatives bought in to the faux ideology, hook, line, and sinker. 

 

The European Court Of Justice (ECJ) ends a prolonged legal battle started in 2014 by the taxi drivers' association in Barcelona. Uber claimed it was just an intermediary for connecting drivers with passengers. Absurdly - to guarantee the cab trade got well and truly mugged off - TfL still granted Uber a Private Hire Operator’s licence.

 

The ECJ ruled that since the Uber app is "indispensable for both the drivers and the persons who wish to make a journey" and since "Uber exercises decisive influence over the conditions under which the drivers provide their service," the company provides a transport service, not an information one. European countries must now regulate it as such.

 

I remember the case being referred to Europe and being told that it’d be 2 years before the Courts there got to look at it. The impenetrable façade presented by Uber made it seemed like the death knell was set in place to knoll firmly over the Cab Trade

 

The cab trade came late to the table, partly because The LTDA had always considered themselves to be part of the establishment. I always thought that the old coppers club up at Woodfield Road eased policy to the trade, but now, TfL had a ‘partner’ in town, one that came with REAL benefits. 

 

I maintain to this day that Oddy’s position on TfL’s Board was the biggest disservice ever served to the cab trade. Conversely, I do not think TfL and The LTDA had a chummy relationship during that time, in fact, I believe Oddy, in TfL’s eyes, represented the face of the cab trade. 

As if that wasn’t enough to do us all an injustice, then the realisation that the cab trade was impotent and couldn’t do anything, was all TfL needed to set about dismantling us as an institution. After all, Uber now provided the tools with which to do it.

 

Even though we are in a slightly better position than we were under the last administration, it’s worth remembering that political persuasion against the cab trade hasn’t gone away. The Conservatives are still there, acting unlawfully I might add, by going on social media to rally support for Uber and Teresa May voiced her objection to the Mayor’s decision notto renew Uber’s license. It was, in fact, what May didn’t say that spoke volumes. Whatever we may think, Uber’s influence runs very deep on both sides of the house and we dismiss it at our peril.

 

Whilst we know Uber is our adversary (or at least the catalyst that was used for our demise) we are reluctant to face what I consider to be a more insidious enemy; the enemy that comes from within, one that utilises the service of an established product to compete with Uber’s phoney gig economy explosion and one whose stake in the trade is maturing at an alarming rate. 

 

I’ll go on record as saying, the heavily invested Corporate owned apps, are the single biggest threat our industry faces today. We need to summon the strength to tackle it head on. It’s not easy, mainly because it is a case of the Lord giveth, and the Lord taketh away. 

 

The transgression in Uber’s booking procedure does not apply to the taxi hailing apps. Extensive training undertaken by a taxi driver coupled with additional regulation means  unless the booking happened outside of their licensed area Taxi drivers can accept a direct hiring as we are also operators in own right. We cannot therefore blame TfL for licensing these apps illegally as they did Uber, simply because there is no licence to be had.

 

For the taxi hailing apps, Uber has never been their main competition. The main competition for these apps is, the humble street hail. For the taxi hailing apps such as Gett and MyTaxi, the work generated on the street is a massive impediment to them competing with Uber on a global scale. For either of them to make their name as players in the ‘Logistics’ business both companies need to eliminate or at least minimise our street work. Even then, the Taxi trade is too restrictive a market to use as sample base in the field of logistics. Both Gett and MyTaxi will need to transcend our industry sooner or later if they are to grow

 

I clearly remember the coal miners strike during the Thatcher administration. Their downfall was due to working too efficiently. They had literally produced mountainous coal reserves, so when the time the stand off became about endurance, the miners were left with no bargaining power, and no bargaining power ripped the life out of those communitieswho’s very survival was reliant on mining trade. Likewise, the street hail represents the very nucleus of our modus operandi, but considered as lost revenue by the apps. Simply, fewer jobs on the street, the more we are beholden to shareholders. Once the balance has tipped there’ll be no clawing our work back, and this time we’ll have no one else to blame but ourselves.  Like I mentioned previously, this is not a call to return to the good old days, that’s never going to happen, but we need to get organised, and quick.

 

You could say, Uber made us more equipped to tackle future competition that might emanate from our own Silicon Valley. So much so, that London is the first City in the world where the officially licensed taxi trade has developed its own app. A little like how the Soviet threat in the 50’s was neutralised when Britain announced we had developed nuclear energy to be used as a bomb, the Taxi Trade has its own solution to the Corporate ‘asset grab’ of our industry. If you haven’t heard of Taxiapp yet, you should have. It’s a great equaliser and is the only app in existence run as a cooperative by its drivers. If we don’t soon realise it’s significance (and huge potential) it might be too late. 

 

Even if Gett & MyTaxi don’t consider themselves as the destroyer of our industry, their endgame is automation so there is no incentive for them to strengthen our position as taxi drivers. Nor will we have to wait that long, expect there to be a shift over to connected transport systems where ‘usership’ as opposed to ‘ownership’ is the order of the day. Any wonder then why the established apps seem unconcernedabout the purchase price of the new electric cab? 

 

The authorities are beginning to realise that the modern world is multifaceted, with no prescriptive model that works for every city. The one thing the ECJ ruling doesn't do, and that isgrant cities a license to stymie competition. It establishes a more accountable playing field, not a protectionist environment. 

No doubt TfL will purposely misunderstand that as they disingenuously try to balance business interests with their role as regulator. Which, ironically, is not too dissimilar to our dilemma of biting the hand that feeds us. Remember the movie, The Beast With Five Fingers, the hand that is feeding me is ultimately the same hand that’s priming me to be strangled. 

 

The cab trade needs to face up to some stark decision making whilst we are afforded a rest-bite. I’ll leave you with one of my favourite quotes ever,

 

“One day Alice came to a fork in the road and saw a Cheshire cat in a tree. ‘Which road do I take?’ she asked. ‘Where do you want to go?’ was his response. ‘I don’t know,’ Alice answered. ‘Then,’ said the cat, ‘it doesn’t matter.”

 

Lewis Carroll

 

As with the miners, we reap what we sew, only this time we have a choice, 

 

Sean Paul Day

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2018 and Beyond

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And Now For Something Completely Different : Cyclists In Islington Getting Crap Deal From Police Horses.

Cyclist are now arguing that Police horses are putting cyclists in danger – because they are pooing all over a major bike route.

What they have to remember is, horses have the right of way over ALL road traffic. 

Above is the view of horse poo on the Quietway 2 cycle route in Basire Street, off New North Road.

Cyclist Bennett Golder, has complained to Islington police about the beasts’ “dangerous and disgusting” dumps, which he claims are blighting Transport for London’s (TfL) Quietway 2 through Islington’s backstreets.

He said faeces constantly fester in locations such as Basire Street off New North Road, Colebrooke Row near where Boris Johnson used to live, and Arlington Way off Rosebery Avenue.

“It’s been bothering me for a year now,” Bennett said.

“It has to be police horses because police officers are the only people I have ever seen on horseback in Islington.

“On my commutes through Islington, there is always horse poo on these roads. I always made jokes with my friends about how I was going to collect some and return it to Islington police station.

“But it’s actually serious – when it’s raining, there are times when my bike slips. It’s a definite safety hazard.

“There are times when the poo has flung up and got all over me, which was disgusting. And you don’t want it getting in your mouth or eyes.”

Bennett said he messaged an officer about the problem, but was told there is little police can do about the “natural occurrence”.

But Bennett said: “It’s never cleaned up. Why not just take the horses on roads where cyclists aren’t going to ride over it? Cars can drive over no problem, but cyclists don’t have protection.”

"I always made jokes with my friends about how I was going to collect some and return it to Islington police station. But it’s actually serious"

The Met’s mounted branch were asked for a comment but did not receive a response.

One cyclist, from Hackney, who uses the Islington cycle lane to get to work in central London said, "you never see a cyclist poo in the street, what makes horses think they are different. Horse poo is notoriously hard to get out of lycra, it leaves a horrible stain." 

It’s the latest, and probably most bizarre, in a series of rows between cyclists and the authorities over cycling safety in the borough.

Campaigners despair at Islington’s supposedly inadequate cycling provision, and blame the council for not doing enough to protect vulnerable road users. Earlier this month, protesters made a human lane for bicycle users during a morning rush hour in Penton Street. 

But the town hall has consistently rejected the cycle lobby’s accusations, insisting Islington is a “cycling friendly borough”.

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As We Enter A New Year Lets Briefly Reflect The State Of Our Trade. By Marc Turner.

In our darkest moments, around 2015/16, many predicted our demise. The most pessimistic gave us two years. Some jumped ship and left the trade. The majority of our brethren, apathethically struggled on, heads in the sand, hoping for the best, expecting the worst, as the clock ticked down.

The orgs struggled to get a grip, because what had befallen the trade was off the scale, regards corruption/ collusion/ ineptitude/ from  government/ TfL/ plus media/press negligence.

Approx two decades ago Richard Branson with Jamie Borwick, (then head of Manganese Bronze, parent company of London Taxis International) were travelling in JB's chauffeured Black Cab. 

RB had accepted a lift home from JB after a function. 

Wasn't long before conversation got round to the cab trade.  Richard admitted to Jamie, that he (Virgin) had looked at getting into the London Taxi trade. But concluded, on a corporate level it couldn't work or 'ever' make money. 'Wise Man'.

A generation on it seem others too should've properly thought it through. Perhaps thousands   upon thousands of people (Worldwide) could've been spared huge suffering. 

From Cabbies/ PH/ unsuspecting members of the public, bankruptcies, house repossessions, evictions, fatal RTA's, molestations, rapes, even suicides and murders.

All for a failing 'greed venture'!

A Taxi driver is a small business, equivalent to a shop on wheels. Transaction's solely  between drivers and passengers. Win, Win. 

As has been proved with 'greed ventues', Everybody's losing. Some their lives.

But over the last couple of years  'fighting back', what the trade has lacked in quantity, it's certainly made up for in quality. 

It has been my honour and privilege to have been in the trenches with at various times (in no particular order): 

TAXI LEAKS, LONDON TAXI RADIO incorporating CABCHAT, MAYFAIR MOB, DADS DEFENDING DAUGHTERS, LONDON TAXI PR. TAXIAPP, DIAL A CAB, ITA. 

All absolute heroes because they've deffended this trade to the hilt. Often being hit in the pocket, and most self sacrificing of all, on occasions putting their trade before family commitments.

Wishing you all a healthy and prosperous 2018. 

To government/TfL/ disruptors...MIND YOUR 'JUGULAR' COS WE'RE COMING FOR YOU.

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