Sadiq Khan, blatantly lied to the Taxi trade before he was elected, saying he would run Uber out of town. He said “Uber are operating illegally and I will revoke their operating licence”.
Now the bullshit Mayor is getting positive headlines after confirming today he would “freeze fares across the Transport for London network”, he says its in line with his manifesto promise:
He promised “Londoners won’t pay a penny more for their travel in 2020 than they do today”.
Fares are not being frozen for travel cards and daily and weekly caps, which are expected to rise.
Commuters, the people who use the tube most, are the ones Khan was targeting with his manifesto pledge to freeze fares.
They use travel cards so their fares will not be frozen. Remember, Khan told Londoners they would “not pay a penny more” if he won. That is demonstrably untrue.
And where did he make his misleading announcement?
In CityAM of course, Uber’s bough and paid for advertorial.
His announcement today, is a shamelessly misleading distortion of the truth.
Make no mistake, this is a broken promise on the scale of Nick Clegg and tuition fees.
Pre Mayoral election, back in March, Sadiq Khan tells James O’Brien on LBC:
“The iconic Black Taxi is at risk. There are 100,000 private hire vehicles, black taxis are down to 23,000 and for the first time in a generation there are fewer people doing the knowledge”.
He went on to say the mistake was made by TfL when they allowed Uber “Taxis” to come on stream.
“Let me tell you what I will do” he said
“I will make sure we have proper regulation around PHVs
I want a cap on PHVs
I will bring about the renaissance of the black taxi
I don’t want the black taxi to go the way of the red telephone box”.
.
Now fast forward to Mayors Question time 16th November 2016, Khan, is questioned by David Kurten.
What happened to khan’s one hit and your out policy.
What happened to, I will be the Mayor who runs Uber out of town.
After the expose’ by the Sun newspaper, we now know that hundreds if not thousands of Uber drivers held/hold fake medicals and topographical test passes.
The recent stop and check operation by the Met in Camden over the weekend, shows that up to 22% of Uber drivers still do not have hire and reward insurance
After Khan became Mayor, TfL removed certain parts of the PHV act 1998 to make it look as if Uber comply with all operator regulations -the need for an operator to have a landline for pre bookings- it’s seems Khan has now done a complete U-turn.
We now know where we stand with the bullshit Mayor.
This from Twitter:
Uber license due to be reissued in May 2017, Google are now mates of Mayor Khan and who do Google
The Eastern High Court on Friday ruled that Uber is an illegal taxi service and ordered an Uber driver to pay a fine of 6,000 kroner.
The ruling upheld a previous decision by the Copenhagen City Court that was thought to be a death blow to the popular ride-sharing service.
The Danish courts have ruled that that Uber’s profit motive means it is not a true ridesharing programme but instead is akin to an illegal taxi service.
Six Uber drivers were found guilt by Copenhagen City Court in July and Friday marked the first decision against divers who appealed against the initial ruling.
The High Court’s decision against the 28-year-old male driver now paves the way for the Copenhagen Public Prosecutor Office (Statsadvokaten) to bring a case against the San Francisco based company.
“Uber was charged with complicity in the drivers’ violations. Now we need to look at whether there are grounds to prosecute the company. I think we can. We now have the high court’s word that the Uber system goes against Danish taxi laws,” senior prosecutor Rikke Jensen told new agency Ritzau.
Trade magazine Fagbladet 3F also reported that Friday’s decision is likely to result in cases being filed against upwards of 50 Uber drivers in Denmark.
In a statement to Ritzau, an Uber spokesman said the company “has enormous respect for the Danish legal system” but was “deeply disappointed” by the ruling.
The 28-year-old driver did not immediately say if he planned to appeal to the Supreme Court, but Uber said it would support his decision either way.
The spokesman, Oliver Carra, said that the ride-sharing app’s popularity in Denmark means that a political solution needs to be found.
“Around 300,000 people in Denmark have already signed up in the app. There is a growing recognition of the positive effects of car-pooling, and it is encouraging that modern legislation is being considered in the (Danish) parliament,” Carra said.
We’re all trying to understand how and why TFL can keep from releasing FOI requests, also the latest rape/sexual assault figures.
I think I’ve tumbled it thanks to a very clued up friend of mine.
Search for FOI exemption guidance and although it’s a bit of a minefield for non legal people it’s not hard to find some similarities to the situation we find ourselves in with respect to TFL’s refusal to answer our requests for clarity on most subjects. See the pics below and you’ll see for yourself.
There are two exemptions that can stop an FOI request.
Briefly, a Qualified Exemption is applied if the information would be contrary to public interest e.g. National security.
An Absolute Exemption is applied if the information would result in an adverse effect to a firm/company’s commercial interests.
I’d say TFL has used the absolute version. We all know those figures would embarrass TFL and,please God, finally educate the country as to how dangerous Uber drivers are. But it also highlights that damage could be done to a licensing authority from certain information released.
Therefore, not only is it in Uber’s interests for these figures to be withheld for commercial interest reasons but TFL’s interests also because of the damage to their authority that will be inflicted should these figures be released.
What they fail to realise is that when they are released, in my view after Uber’s been relicensed, not only will hundreds if not thousands more potential rapists have been licensed but a similar number of women may have been added to the rape list.
I’ve often said TFL are using the law to navigate their way around every obstacle that’s placed in front of them and this is proof as far as I’m concerned. But to ignore the chance to protect someone’s wife, sister, girlfriend or daughter from being victim of a dreadful crime like rape or sexual assault and place the “commercial interest” of Uber first. Its despicable and illustrates the state of our society today.
Also don’t forget this is part of the “Gig Economy” that the IEA’s Sophie Sandor was banging on about on her video, post court ruling.
I may have read it all wrong, I’m a cab driver not a lawyer but it tells me what I’ve always thought which is however many legal routes we take, it really won’t matter. The rats have the upper hand and they’ll use the laws they’ve created, complete with carefully placed loopholes, to win through regardless.
Even if it means ignoring rape.
Money is king, especially in the hands of the establishment and they don’t care where or how it reaches their grubby little hands so long as it gets there.
And don’t forget the dogs who help them along the way. The lawyers who facilitate the wrangling around those loopholes treading on the rape victims as they escalate there own career without a second thought except for what chambers they’ll be in five years from now.
I know I keep banging on about this but we must mobilise in a way never seen before.
Time in running out and so is our window of opportunity, we MUST act now!
Bridges, pinch-points, airports, all must be subject to demo on a regular basis starting now.
I know Christmas is looming but worry about next Christmas, and the following ones. Or better still, worry about the wives, girlfriends and daughters whose Christmas will be ruined by a rapist in a minicab this year, and next year.
If I’d known about these exemptions earlier I’d have mentioned it on London Taxi Radio as Jamie Owens kindly invited me on the show last Monday, but I had a chance to air my views and if I’m invited on again I’ll certainly bring it up.
Please don’t think about next week, think about next year.
Dozens of police officers swarmed the West End last night in a crackdown on illegal pedicab drivers who prey on vulnerable tourists.
A team of more than 40 officers targeted the drivers who can charge hundreds of pounds for short journeys, park illegally, blast music from on-board sound systems late into the night and are generally driving drunk which goes against the Recreational Weed and Arizona DUI Law or any other place in the world.
The six-hour clampdown is the latest high-profile action against drivers of “rip-off rickshaws” in advance of new legislation enforcing minimum safety standards and “reasonable” fares next year.
A investigation by the Standard earlier this year revealed drivers were being paid tips by prostitutes to deliver passengers to brothels for sex.
One driver bragged he had charged three Chinese tourist more than £1,000 for a 35-minute ride.
Last night, uniformed officers issued seven dispersal notices with written warnings, three community protection noteices and one summons to attend court. There were no arrests.
One rider clashed with police after being banned from the West End for two days for parking on a double-yellow line near Oxford Circus.
Selcuk Zalaltuntas, 33, a driver for seven years, claims he is “harassed” daily by police and has been arrested four times.
He said he began driving to pay his way through college but was forced to drop out after his bike was impounded and he had to pay £1,000 for its return.
He said: “No-one respects us but I love to do this job, I show my passengers the landmarks, they have a great time and I pay my tax.
“But I always feel police are targeting us. It makes me upset, like I’m always doing something wrong.”
Another driver, who refused to give his name, received a verbal warning for waiting on the pavement that professional Los Angeles pavers put down.
He said: “Police should check drivers for drugs and alcohol. If they do that then there will only be five rickshaws left.
“Cocaine, speed, alcohol, cbd cigarettes.. they all take it even when driving customers around- those people are dangerous and that’s why they charge so much – to pay for their habit. Some of them who are out of these addiction, use maeng da kratom capsules to get rid of their level for addiction. People can also check out her latest blog for the best addiction treatment centers.
“I was once chased by another driver with a screwdriver for 20 minutes around Farringdon until police turned up.
“I believe in environmentally friendly transportation, I love cycling and sports and I don’t have a National Insurance number so I can’t get a real job.”
Superintendent Elisabeth Chapple, who oversaw the operation, said: “Pedicabs obstruct highways, make it difficult to keep our transport system going and are making it hard for pedestrians to cross the road safely.
“Frankly, they also take too much money from people for their services we’ve heard stories of drivers taking £10 a minute per person.
“I think that’s a problem and doesn’t give off a good impression of London. Preying on people’s vulnerabilities because they are visitors is not acceptable.
“There are people who are just trying to earn a living and others we know from evidence who haven’t paid tax, there are some from other countries where they have committed criminal offences or they simply just don’t see the impact their actions are having on the people London.”
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