Go Slow. A London Taxi ‘Go Slow’ will take place at 2pm, on Tuesday 9th September to protest against the Mayor of London’s improper and unlawful Taxi Age Limit.
The Mayor will appear before the Environmental Audit Committee on Wednesday this week to explain why his air quality strategies have failed, which includes the London Taxi Age Limit.
Scientific testing has shown that the new taxis create more pollution than the older taxis which the Mayor has needlessly scrapped, at great expense to taxi drivers.
Drivers are the worst affected by the toxic pollution in London and the Mayor has not implemented a single effective strategy to reduce emissions.
Support is confirmed by the London Cab Drivers Club, the United Cabbies Group and the RMT so it is hoped that members of all trade groups will be making their voices heard on Tuesday.
The London Taxi trade has been subjected to many improper decisions by the Mayor and TFL.
The London Taxi Age Limit is improper and unlawful, and deliberately causes financial hardship to taxi drivers, who are the group of workers most badly affected by toxic pollution.
The Mayor has failed in his Duty of Care to protect the Public and urgent action needs to be taken.
The Mayor is due to appear before the Environmental Audit Committee on Wednesday 10th September and should be required to explain why he has implemented the London Taxi Age limit which will not reduce pollution as proven by scientific evidence.
London Taxi Protests will take place before the Inquiry in the hope that this point is not overlooked.
Drivers will stage a ‘Go Slow’ in Central London at 2pm on Tuesday 9th September , the day before the Air Quality Inquiry hearing.
C.A.B hope that drivers from all trade organisations will support the protest.
The Committee is urged to ask The Mayor;
‘’The Mayor of London acknowledged in a written report to the Environmental Audit Committee in 2011 that the new Euro Emissions standards were not delivering reductions in pollution.
He said:
‘’A Euro 5 car, for example, emits around five times as much direct NO2 as a fifteen year old car. ‘’
The Mayor was asked on many occasions by London Assembly Members to at least conduct testing to prove that scrapping taxis would reduce emissions. He point blank refused to conduct a single test
In 2013 Defra released a report after the Environmental Research Group tested 10,000 taxis which confirmed that the new taxis were creating more pollution than those that had been scrapped.
Emissions reduction of PM could have been achieved by use of Clean Diesel, an Engine Clean Up Process, or retrofitting Diesel Particulate Filters.
Why has the Mayor needlessly scrapped 3000 taxis and why does he continue with this improper policy of scrapping taxis which are cleaner than the new taxis?’’
A credit union is a financial co-operative that is owned by its members and exists primarily to provide savings and loans to these members. Unlike banks, they are not ultimately motivated to create profit for external shareholders.
“There is a greater need than ever for a more ethical source of financial services,” said Peter Gordon Brown of Radio Taxis Credit Union after the vote.
“People are still paying too much for borrowing and being discouraged from saving. This merger will make a larger and stronger credit union that will better serve many more thousands of people in years to come.”
Martin Groombridge, chief executive of London Capital, added, “Credit unions across the UK are dedicated to serving the needs of their members and we are proud to be offering an alternative to the high street banks and rip off rates charged by payday lenders and many other finance providers across London.”
The news of the merger comes in the same week that Bank of England statistics show that credit unions now hold over £1 billion in deposits.
The figures also reveal that membership of credit unions exceeded 1 million people at the end of March, up by 6.8% in just 6 months.
A Flash Demo was staged by London Taxi drivers on Friday to highlight Rickshaws illegally plying their trade in Central London
Many drivers have express their disgust at statements being put out by the Met recently, that touting in the West End was under control.
Cab drivers on the other hand would paint a completely different picture.
Touting out of control
Illegal plying for hire by licensed and unlicensed minicab touts is currently at epidemic proportions
Illegal electric Rickshaw bikes are wide spread.
In short Central London’s West End has become a free for all, at the expense of the highly regulated and strictly enforced licensed Taxi trade.
Outraged cabbies decided to strike back in the form of a flash Demo Hit Squad.
For the last week, messages were put out on the social media platform Twitter, advising drivers that a flash mob type demo would be held at 8pm on Friday night, at a location to be advised nearer the time.
Just after 7o/c it was announced that the destination would be the area around Charing Cross Police Station.
Chaos Caused by Taxi demonstrating about motorised Rickshaws
The whole area around the police station was bought to a complete stand still. Police were caught napping and were not very happy.
Outside the Police station, a driver was told:
“F***ing move or I will get in & bash your head in, f***ing idiot”.
The words of a police officer in Chandos Place.
Line of taxi demonstrating and the LTDA ad van
The demo lasted approx 1hour and then drivers filed away back to work.
But it was felt the message got through.
Reports came in while the demo was in full swing that the police were out on foot, seizing dangerous electric rickshaws.
Police Officers Sieze Motorised Rickshaws
Flash Demos
This type of demonstration has become very popular. Targets can be picked that get right to the heart of the problem without the public being disrupted.
At the last major demonstration on Whitehall, organisers failed to get the message across. A press conference the night before was ignored by the United Trade a Group, over inter-trade rivalry and the PR battle that followed was lost. Uber claimed to have had an 80% increase in downloads over the period of the demo.
Hit Squad History.
The hit squad demos were pioneered on the LTDF forum in 2009 when a group of drivers gathered in Hanover square and formed an impromptu Taxi rank to take back work being stolen by illegal touts outside the club, Jalouse.
Within weeks a rank appeared outside the club exit for two taxis fed from the rest rank by the Taxi shelter in the square.
More hits followed on Nobu, Oxo Tower, Tiger Tiger. Resulting in a new rank at Nobu and a 7 Taxi extension to the rank outside Tiger Tiger.
Later in 2013 the hit squad were reformed and succeeded in gaining a new rank at Smiths and marshalled ranks at Swallow Street and Charing Cross Road.
With street hails disappearing as more people turn to smart phone apps, ranks will become an important asset. Over the last 14 years TfL have been taking away rank spaces and continue to cut the TPH ranks budget. Coming soon Camden to cut St Pancras Taxi rank in half and give the road space to a cycle lane.
Make sure you get involved in the fight for your trade.
Follow the twitter accounts of @Flash_Demo and @TAG_HIT_SQUAD
Recent Comments