Continue reading »]]> It has now been confirmed that a communication from the Chairman of Addison Lee has been sent to all his drivers, inciting them to ignore London’s bus lane regulations and break the law.

Mr Griffin quite falsely states that he will indemnify his drivers from prosecution, something he cannot legally do.

The committee of the United Cabbies Group (UCG) have contacted Transport for London (TfL) and demanded Mr Griffin’s company have their license to operate as a private hire operator suspended immediately, and that they (TfL) enforce the bus lane regulations rigorously to prevent his drivers from putting public safety at risk.

The committee of the UCG are considering making a complaint to the Metropolitan police, as it is a criminal offence to incite people to break the law.

In a statement released earlier by the RMT London taxi Branch, Secretary Mike Tinnion stated he will be convening an all trade meeting to institute a campaign of direct action to preserve the trade’s interests both short and long term.

The Committee of the UCG on behalf of it’s members, will join with all trade groups and support any action deemed appropriate at such an all trade meeting.

Thank you.

Continue reading »]]> Minutes of a meeting held on 28th March 2012 (10am) at Palestra Building, Blackfriars Rd.

Purpose of the meeting: To discuss TfL’s taxi engagement policy

In attendance: Helen Chapman (HC)(Deputy Director LTPH), Jonathan Myers (JM)(Spokesperson UCG)

Location: Public canteen of Palestra Building

Minutes prepared by: Jonathan Myers

Preamble: I was surprised and disappointed by the venue for the meeting. I do not feel that a public canteen is an appropriate location for a meeting to discuss taxi trade matters, and I am sure that other trade bodies are afforded more dignity when meeting with officials from TfL.

(HC) This was an informal meeting to follow on from a telephone discussion regarding the Engagement Policy, hence the informal setting in the canteen at Palestra so we could discuss the engagement policy over a cup of coffee.

JM opened the meeting by voicing, on behalf of the UCG, his complete opposition to the Engagement Policy.

JM pointed out that he had studied the particular law that created TfL and therefore forms it’s legal framework to carry out business. He could not find anything in this document that allowed one of it’s departments to decided who it engages with and who it refuses to engage with.

JM requested that HC point him in the direction of the primary legislation or statutory instrument that allows LTPH to behave in such a manner.

HC pointed out that the engagement policy was for the formal quarterly trade meetings only and that engagement takes place on a regular basis with any driver or trade group. This includes informal meetings and discussions, telephone calls, responses to emails, requests for information, inclusion in consultations etc. HC also advised that the Engagement Policy was not in place to stop the UCG being invited to the quarterly taxi trade meetings, in fact, the UCG hadn’t even been formed at the time the engagement policy was drafted, but it was designed to create a more manageable situation at formal trade engagement meetings to enable meaningful discussions, in effect a tool to keep numbers down.

HC advised that when John Mason first took up his post, he spent considerable time meeting with drivers and / or organisations that claimed to represent other drivers and it quickly became apparent that an engagement policy was needed to have some sort of clarity over the way in which we engage with the trade. Prior to John Mason taking up his post as Director of London Taxi and Private Hire, all types of engagement with the taxi trade had been sporadic other than the already established quarterly meetings. She used an example that it would not be possible to hire Millwall Football Stadium every time a meeting was called. It was therefore a requirement that for a trade body to be present at these meetings they must represent at least 5% of the trade.

JM told HC that the UCG had 1500 members which represents about 7% of the trade. He also mentioned that there are at least two trade bodies invited to these meetings that represent less than 1000 members and in one case it is rumoured that they have less than 100 members. HC advised that we weren’t discussing the other trade organisations and how many members they do or don’t have. The purpose of the meeting was to specifically discuss the Engagement Policy in relation to the UCG.

JM argued that this Engagement Policy was simply a sham and was a tool to stop both the UCG and RMT attending trade talks. HC denied this and said that this was the first time she had heard how many members the UCG has and that she could take this away to discuss with John Mason.

JM stated that whilst the UCG opposes this policy it has now passed the 5% threshold required to attend and that the UCG would expect an invitation to the next meeting.

HC said that the first step would be for LTPH to be able arrange for an inspection of the UCG membership records, and that these would need to be verified against LTPH’s database of drivers.

JM refused this for two reasons…

1. LTPH have no right to inspect another organisation’s database of members as this is likely to breach the data protection act. It is also the duty of the UCG to protect it’s members right to a private and family life under the convention of human rights. In fact it is extremely inappropriate for a public body to even make such a request.

2. No other trade body has ever had to allow LTPH to inspect its database of members.

A discussion was held about the merits of the Engagement Policy.

JM then gave HC an ultimatum. That LTPH tear up this ultra vires Engagement Policy or they will be making a super complaint to the Local Government Ombudsman.

HC said that she would discuss the fact that the UCG have now formally stated they have 1500 members with John Mason and would respond by have an answer next week, when pushed she suggested Monday 2nd April 2012.

Further discussions were held on the following subjects in a general sense:

• Touting
• Hotel scams
• One strike and you are out policy
• The 3 year residency rule before a licence can be issued.

The meeting lasted for approximately 2 hours.

Subsequent to the meeting, HC emailed JM later that day to say that having discussed it with John Mason and shared the information and the concern of the UCG to have London Taxi & Private Hire inspecting records that they had come up with an alternative solution by way of a compromise. This alternative solution was that TfL and the UCG could agree a suitable independent person to inspect the UCG membership records on behalf of TfL. This inspection would comprise of no more than a verification of the membership numbers as well as a check of badge numbers against the LTPH system.

JM emailed back rejecting this proposal saying that this had already been vetoed by members.

Footnote:
The United Cabbies Group always insist that all meetings are conducted with transparency and minutes be available for any interested parties to view.

Continue reading »]]> On Monday 13th February 2012 on the Channel 4 programme DISPATCHES, Jonathan Myers the UCG spokesman featured to talk about the chaos that the Olympic Zil lanes will cause during the games, and how London’s Taxi drivers who are not allowed access to the lanes will suffer.

The programme entitled ‘Olympic Tickets for Sale’ initially reported how tickets for the Olympics were being denied to ordinary fans and only the rich could obtain them.

It then sensationally revealed that the ‘elite’ could then buy access to the Zil lanes, and not just to go to the events, but for the whole duration of the games to go shopping etc or wherever they please.

So not only are ordinary Londoners denied watching any events, they will also be penalised from travelling around the city, whilst the fatcats and freeloaders fly past without delay.

The United Cabbies Group have been the only Taxi trade organisation actively campaigning for London Taxis to have access to the lanes with a series of flash demonstrations at various locations in London.

Both these demonstrations were organised at short notice using our text message service. We demand 100% access to the Olympic Route Network, and these demonstrations will continue until our demands are met.

The Olympic Games start with the opening ceremony on 27th July 2012, and if the organisers do not want the games to make the headlines for the wrong reasons they had better think again about excluding London’s Taxis.

If you are a London Taxi driver and you would like to be added to our text database to receive information and text alerts, or to join the UCG as a Full Member and receive the best legal protection in the London Taxi trade, just click the ‘Membership’ tab.

Continue reading »]]> Transport for London have announced that the proposal put forward by the Licensed Taxi Drivers Association for a 20% Olympic Games fare increase for London’s Taxi drivers has now been rejected.

General Secretary Bob Oddy proposed this increase without any consultation with his members or indeed the Taxi trade in general and the story was then picked up by the Evening Standard newspaper who portayed the Taxi trade as ‘Greedy Cabbies’.

The United Cabbies Group incensed by this decision balloted our members and an overwhelming majority of 98% said they were against this trade damaging proposal and that we should take action against the LTDA.

We immediately swung into action with a double demonstration, firstly outside Taxi House, home of the LTDA and then outside the offices of the Evening Standard in Kensington.

The objective was to let the LTDA know that we were unhappy with their arrogant undemocratic actions, and to get our objection to this ‘rip off’ fare hike back into the public domain where the damage had initially been done.

We succeeded on both counts.

In the latest edition of United Cabbies News we ran the full story telling readers how this proposal was done in their name when the majority of them didn’t want it, with the headline ’98% Say No!’.

The LTDA then came out and tried to spin it that it was just a ‘suggestion’ but pretty soon they realised that they had made a catastrophic error of judgement.

General Secretary Bob Oddy stood down shortly after.

To date they have failed to admit they were wrong or offered an apology to the trade, and this has cost them a considerable number of members who have decided they have had enough of being poorly represented.

The LTDA then resorted to scaremonger tactics by suggesting that cab drivers would boycott the games and go on holiday instead. These are tactics they still use today when LTDA Executive Richard Massett recently told the BBC that they had suggested to TfL the price rise, as a survey of it’s members had shown about 40% of drivers would take holiday during the Olympics.

The UCG are unaware of any survey other than a 10 minute stint at Paddington where they asked half a dozen drivers.

Massett said “This was an idea for TfL to consult on, as a way to encourage drivers not to go away for the Games. It has been turned down, like we thought it would, so it is now up to TfL to make sure there are enough black cabs to cope.”

Really Dickie? If you thought it would be turned down why did you bother to propose it in the first place?

Victory for the UCG!

The United Cabbies Group were the only trade organisation who campaigned to stop this fare rise being foisted upon us, and make no mistake about it without our protestations this fare rise would probably have been implemented.

Not only would we have had to sit in the gridlock, but we would probably have to do it without a punter in the back.

This is the second victory in as many weeks for the UCG and the Taxi trade with the announcement that TfL will not be reinstating the License Checker section on their website.

We wait with anticipation to see how LT&PH Director John Mason will attribute this victory to the LTDA!

Continue reading »]]> Director T&PH John Mason recently responded to our article where he was caught red handed in possession of an orange LTDA carrier bag outside Palestra on Tuesday 24th January 2012.

Here is his response…

Dear United Cabbies Group

I noted with interest the most recent article on your website regarding the taxi driver license checker and other matters.

Firstly, I am sorry you have such a low opinion of myself but I am obviously very pleased to note how highly you respect my Deputy, Helen Chapman.

While I can not and would not want to stand in the way of any action you may wish to take as alluded to in the article I thought you may be interested in the following facts.

The weekend I instructed the license checker to be taken down Helen and I had been contacted by a number of driver groups and drivers. Jim Thomas was indeed in contact with Helen and, at the same time, I was in contact with reps from the LTDA and LCDC who were raising the same concerns.

The letter from Bob Crow (to Peter Hendy, not the Mayor)is regarding the taxi driver identifiers and was received AFTER the meeting I attended with the Mayor and Bob Oddy which had been planned since before Christmas.

The letter from Bob Crow does not threaten legal action unless there is another letter I have not seen.

Grant Davies was not at the meeting when the license checker was discussed.

I did not announce I was going to re-introduce the facility.

The Mayor was not livid and did not shout. We discussed with Bob Oddy the concerns of the trade and we agreed with Bob that taxi driver names should not be made available through such a facility.

I hope this clarifies the matter.

Moving on to finals day at Palestra and the suggestions you make with regards to my involvement and apparent promotion of the LTDA.

Firstly you will not find one licensed taxi driver who I have presented a badge to who will corroborate your absurd allegation that I tell drivers they should join the LTDA. I have never have and never would make such a statement either in the finals presentations or anywhere else for that matter. If one of your members or committee would like to attend a finals presentation then please let me know and you can see exactly what I say for yourself.

In light of the above I respectfully demand a complete retraction of this unfounded allegation.

As for the photos of me outside handing out LTDA bags to candidates. This is simply not the case regardless of what you think you witnessed.

After finals I went down to collect a big brown envelope from the LTDA rep. No, not cash, 4 copies of TAXI. The LTDA rep asked me if I knew Maria (a member of my team) as he had some LTDA diaries for her. My taxi licensing officers find the diaries very useful for key facts a info regarding the trade.

I confirmed I did and he handed the bag with the diaries to me.

I was then approached by Maria and another one of my members of staff who asked the LTDA rep if he had the diaries. I said I had and handed her the bag.

We all the proceeded into Palestra and went back to our business of doing our best to serve the great London taxi and private hire trades as best we can.

I hope this clarifies matters and trust you will put matters straight on your website and, in particular, you will retract the inaccuracies and incorrect statements made about me in your article.

Enjoy your weekend

Kind regards

John Mason

This response does throw up a whole heap of questions which we would like to know the answers to.

Mr Mason claims he went to “collect a big brown envelope from the LTDA rep. No, not cash, 4 copies of TAXI.”

Has Mr Mason also recently, or at any time in the past requested copies of any other Taxi trade publications ie.The Badge, Cab Trade News, The Globe, Taxi Cab News, The Cab Driver or Taxi Talk Magazine? The United Cabbies Group have certainly never had a request from Mr Mason for the fine publication that is United Cabbies News.

The LTDA charge an annual subscription of £24.50 to have a copy of Taxi magazine delivered. Does Mr Mason and T&PH subscribe to Taxi magazine, and if so where does the funding come from to pay the £98 subscription fee for the 4 copies delivered? Does this come from Taxi driver license fees?

Mr Mason claims that the orange LTDA carrier bag in question contained 4 diaries which he accepted as an errand for one of his staff named Maria. Two unknown women then appeared at the scene, one of which Mr Mason claims to be his staff member ‘Maria’, who went to collect the special consignment of diaries from the LTDA rep.

Did Maria pay for these diaries? If so how much did Maria pay for the diaries and where did the funding come from. Did it come from Taxi driver license fees?

If Maria did not pay for the diaires then they must have been a gift, and therefore we ask is it appropriate for TfL staff to accept gifts from a Taxi trade organisation? Have there been any other gifts from Taxi trade organisations to TfL staff whilst Mr Mason has been Director. We can confirm that no gifts of any kind have ever been sent from The United Cabbies Group to any TfL or T&PH staff member whilst Mr Mason has been Director?

Also, have there ever been any gifts from TfL/T&PH staff to any Taxi trade organisations whilst Mr Mason has been Director? If so, who were the gifts sent by, and who were they sent to?

Contrary to some reports, Mr Mason claims to have never suggested or recommended to new Taxi drivers that they should Join the LTDA whilst giving them their final talk before handing them their badges. But are there any ever any LTDA diaries or copies of Taxi magazine, or any other Taxi trade org paraphernalia visibly present when Mr Mason gives his final talk which might influence a new driver’s choice on which trade org to join?

Mr Mason has put an Engagement Policy in place that only applies to some Taxi trade organisations and not the one that supplies him with their merchandise? This exclusion of certain Taxi trade organisations by T&PH could have an effect on which organisation a new driver joins, and therefore we believe that this is a restraint of trade, which under the human rights laws is illegal?

On the PCO Notice 01/12 issued and signed by Mr Mason, he states in the opening paragraphs that ‘TfL were contacted by various Taxi driver groups and individuals expressing concern about their name being made available, but Mr Mason only named the LTDA at the end of the notice, and none of the other various Taxi driver groups or individuals involved. The question must be asked why?

We would also like to know whether Mr Mason has ever fraternised or socialised with any member from a Taxi trade representative organisation outside of normal working offices hours?

Perhaps Mr Mason would like to answer these questions for us, or should we submit them under a freedom of information request?

John Mason has sent us this response…

Dear United Cabbies Group

While I have no real desire to respond to your list of ludicrous questions I feel I have no option given that if I do not you will then submit a Freedom of Information request.

Such requests merely result in even more wasted time and effort of staff in my team and unnecessary costs to taxi drivers through license fees for processing such requests.

In light of the above please find a response to your questions.

Perhaps, having read them, you will perhaps consider this frankly ridiculous “non issue” closed and allow me and my team to focus more important things?

Regards

John Mason
Director – Taxi & Private Hire
4th Floor Yellow
Palestra
197 Blackfriars Road. London. SE1 8NJ

 

Has Mr Mason also recently, or at any time in the past requested copies of any other Taxi trade publications ie.The Badge, Cab Trade News, The Globe, Taxi Cab News, The Cab Driver or Taxi Talk Magazine? The United Cabbies Group have certainly never had a request from Mr Mason for the fine publication that is United Cabbies News.

Yes, I have a couple of times although I do not keep a record of such requests and don’t normally need to make them as they are sent through the post unrequested.

Previously at Penton Street we had a magazine rack on the ground floor and the various magazines and trade press used to come in and keep stocked. We don’t have that facility at Palestra and as we do not have a counter service we do not request or keep trade papers for distribution to students or drivers and any delivered or requested are merely for our own review.

If I feel the need to read UCN then I read the on-line version.

The LTDA charge an annual subscription of £24.50 to have a copy of Taxi magazine delivered. Does Mr Mason and T&PH subscribe to Taxi magazine, and if so where does the funding come from to pay the £98 subscription fee for the 4 copies delivered? Does this come from Taxi driver license fees?

No, we / I do not subscribe to any taxi trade publication. As I indicated above, they are normally sent or dropped off to us, unrequested.

Mr Mason claims that the orange LTDA carrier bag in question contained 4 diaries which he accepted as an errand for one of his staff named Maria. Two unknown women then appeared at the scene, one of which Mr Mason claims to be his staff member ‘Maria’, who went to collect the special consignment of diaries from the LTDA rep.

Did Maria pay for these diaries? If so how much did Maria pay for the diaries and where did the funding come from. Did it come from Taxi driver license fees?

No she did not pay for them.

If Maria did not pay for the diaires then they must have been a gift, and therefore we ask is it appropriate for TfL staff to accept gifts from a Taxi trade organisation?

These are free diaries widely distributed by the LTDA to members and taxi trade stakeholders. They hold absolutely no meaningful value and like any reasonable person I do not believe they are or can be seriously considered as a “gift” or that there is anything untoward with my staff asking for or receiving them.

As I indicated in my original response to your incorrect and misleading article my team find the diaries useful for stats and information, contact information etc. They are not relied upon for my team to do their job but they can assist us sometimes with questions or queries we get.

Have there been any other gifts from Taxi trade organisations to TfL staff whilst Mr Mason has been Director. We can confirm that no gifts of any kind have ever been sent from The United Cabbies Group to any TfL or T&PH staff member whilst Mr Mason has been Director?

No. And I can confirm, without question, no gifts have been sent by the United Cabbies Group and non would ever be accepted.

Also, have there ever been any gifts from TfL/T&PH staff to any Taxi trade organisations whilst Mr Mason has been Director? If so, who were the gifts sent by, and who were they sent to?

No.

Contrary to some reports, Mr Mason claims to have never suggested or recommended to new Taxi drivers that they should Join the LTDA whilst giving them their final talk before handing them their badges. But are there any ever any LTDA diaries or copies of Taxi magazine, or any other Taxi trade org paraphernalia visibly present when Mr Mason gives his final talk which might influence a new driver’s choice on which trade org to join?

No.

I can confirm, without question that there is absolutely no statement or comment made by me regarding the LTDA or any other driver trade organization. As I stated in my response to your original article, you will find no one to corroborate such a “report” as I have never made such comments at finals or anywhere else.

To be very clear – there are also no magazines, papers, diaries, mouse mats, pens, pencils or other “paraphernalia” of the LTDA or any other driver association available, on show or handed out by TfL that could some way sway newly qualified driver to chose one organization or another.

As you are aware increasing numbers of driver associations have recently started to congregate outside Palestra in an attempt to entice drivers to join their particular organization with various offers of goodie bags, lanyards and the like. This is completely outside of my control and is not something we get involved in.

Mr Mason has put an Engagement Policy in place that only applies to some Taxi trade organisations and not the one that supplies him with their merchandise? This exclusion of certain Taxi trade organisations by T&PH could have an effect on which organisation a new driver joins, and therefore we believe that this is a restraint of trade, which under the human rights laws is illegal?

Feel free to take legal advice and pursue a legal course of action on this matter if you wish but please be clear that we do not formally engage with associations that provide us with diaries and are willing to formally engage any association able to meet the policy whether they widely distribute their own diary or not.

On the PCO Notice 01/12 issued and signed by Mr Mason, he states in the opening paragraphs that ‘TfL were contacted by various Taxi driver groups and individuals expressing concern about their name being made available, but Mr Mason only named the LTDA at the end of the notice, and none of the other various Taxi driver groups or individuals involved. The question must be asked why?

I rightly mentioned the LTDA at the end in the context of it was the LTDA that was present when the Mayor committed to this issue. It was the LTDA that was present at the meeting with the Mayor, it was the LTDA who raised the matter with the Mayor and it was to the LTDA who the Mayor made a commitment to that the names would not be provided through the on line facility in the future.

We would also like to know whether Mr Mason has ever fraternised or socialised with any member from a Taxi trade representative organisation outside of normal working offices hours?

Yes. In particular I have attended events such as the Worshipful Company of Hackney Carriage Drivers where I have been present and socialized with members of the taxi trade and taxi driver associations.

Perhaps Mr Mason would like to answer these questions for us, or should we submit them under a freedom of information request?

As I indicated in my covering email. I had no desire to respond to such questions but have done so merely to avoid an FOI from you asking such questions which is unnecessary and would just result in more work and, in particular, additional costs to taxi drivers.

Continue reading »]]> LTPH Director John Mason recently issued this PCO Notice 01/12 Taxi Driver License Checker.

In December 2011, Transport for London arbitrarily decided without any consultation whatsoever with the Taxi trade to make available on their website a section where a driver’s badge number could be entered and the full name of that driver would be disclosed for the world to see. Coupled with the new, soon to be compulsory Badge Colour Vehicle Identifiers issued to every London Taxi driver which clearly identifies a driver’s badge number and whether they are an All London or Suburban driver.

Naturally a large number of the Taxi trade were concerned that their safety and security was being seriously compromised by this decision because anyone with a modicum of computer knowledge and ability would then have no trouble accessing a driver’s address and personal information about them and their family. The consequences of this information in the hands of somebody with malicious intent doesn’t bear thinking about, and understandably drivers were outraged.

To show how easy it was to obtain this information, UCG Committee Officer Jimmy Thomas using readily available computer software gained personal information of some of the Committee Members of the London Cab Drivers Club, the protaganists behind the identifier scheme, along with photographs of their houses.

After announcing on Twitter that he was in possession of this information he was then contacted by LTPH Deputy Director Helen Chapman, and he explained to her how easy it was to obtain, and what the implications could be if it fell into the wrong hands.

Commonsense Prevails!

Thankfully Helen, who stands head and shoulders above her counterpart John Mason in terms of intelligence, efficiency, and respect for London’s Taxi drivers instantly understood the problem and immediately instructed staff to remove the license checker section on TfL’s website.

The trade sought assurances from LTPH that this section would not re-appear on their website at a later date, but due to none being forthcoming, and rumours abound that John Mason was indeed intending to reinstate it, the RMT’s London Taxi branch instructed their General Secretary Bob Crow to write directly to Mayor Boris Johnson informing him that they were planning to take legal action against Transport for London.

They told the Mayor that they believed this was an infringement of driver’s human rights and also contravened the data protection act.

John Mason and LTPH have often had a blatant disregard for the law of the land and the UCG and the RMT believed that this was just another example of it.

A meeting was then called by Boris Johnson, with John Mason, the LTDA and Unite in attendance, and Mr Mason again arbitrarily announced that he was indeed planning to re-introduce it.

Outrage!

The Mayor was said to be livid with Mr Mason and then told him in no uncertain terms that this License Checker section will most definitely NOT be going back up.

Mr Mason, who had to eat humble pie then scurried off back to Palestra with his tail between his legs and a few days later was forced to issue the above PCO Notice 01/12 stating that the whole idea has now been binned.

To everybodys surprise, he did however add the section on the end of the notice claiming that this was all down to the LTDA, who in reality were in favour of this License Checker section and were oblivious to the work that had been done by the UCG’s Jimmy Thomas in getting this taken off of TfL’s website in the first place. Silent Bob strikes again!

You scratch my back and I’ll scratch yours!

Questions must now be asked about the cosy relationship Mr Mason has with the LTDA (Licensed Taxi Drivers Association), a Taxi trade organisation that is often accredited by him with the acheivements attained by others, and why he feels the need to do this.

It is alleged that John Mason can often be heard during his badge awarding speeches telling the new entrants into this trade that they should join the LTDA, and on a recent United Cabbies Group recruitment drive on ‘passing out’ day at Palestra we were dismayed to see Mr Mason actually handing out the LTDA’s glossy orange bag containing their propaganda.

The photographs below clearly show Mr Mason holding a bag, inspecting it’s contents, then handing it over to an unknown woman.

A source close to the hierarchy of the LTDA has also told us that they view Mr Mason as…

“The best recruiting sergeant they have ever had”!

What the hell does John Mason think he’s doing handing out LTDA recruiting paraphernalia? Surely the Director of Taxis & Private Hire should be impartial and show no bias to any one Taxi trade organisation over another!

The United Cabbies Group believes that Mr Mason is acting unprofessionally and we have drafted a letter of complaint which will be sent directly to Mayor Boris Johnson.

We will keep you informed as to any response and outcome.

Mason Responds

Dear United Cabbies Group

I noted with interest the most recent article on your website regarding the taxi driver license checker and other matters.

Firstly, I am sorry you have such a low opinion of myself but I am obviously very pleased to note how highly you respect my Deputy, Helen Chapman.

While I can not and would not want to stand in the way of any action you may wish to take as alluded to in the article I thought you may be interested in the following facts.

The weekend I instructed the license checker to be taken down Helen and I had been contacted by a number of driver groups and drivers. Jim Thomas was indeed in contact with Helen and, at the same time, I was in contact with reps from the LTDA and LCDC who were raising the same concerns.

The letter from Bob Crow (to Peter Hendy, not the Mayor)is regarding the taxi driver identifiers and was received AFTER the meeting I attended with the Mayor and Bob Oddy which had been planned since before Christmas.

The letter from Bob Crow does not threaten legal action unless there is another letter I have not seen.

Grant Davies was not at the meeting when the license checker was discussed.

I did not announce I was going to re-introduce the facility.

The Mayor was not livid and did not shout. We discussed with Bob Oddy the concerns of the trade and we agreed with Bob that taxi driver names should not be made available through such a facility.

I hope this clarifies the matter.

Moving on to finals day at Palestra and the suggestions you make with regards to my involvement and apparent promotion of the LTDA.

Firstly you will not find one licensed taxi driver who I have presented a badge to who will corroborate your absurd allegation that I tell drivers they should join the LTDA. I have never have and never would make such a statement either in the finals presentations or anywhere else for that matter. If one of your members or committee would like to attend a finals presentation then please let me know and you can see exactly what I say for yourself.

In light of the above I respectfully demand a complete retraction of this unfounded allegation.

As for the photos of me outside handing out LTDA bags to candidates. This is simply not the case regardless of what you think you witnessed.

After finals I went down to collect a big brown envelope from the LTDA rep. No, not cash, 4 copies of TAXI. The LTDA rep asked me if I knew Maria (a member of my team) as he had some LTDA diaries for her. My taxi licensing officers find the diaries very useful for key facts a info regarding the trade.

I confirmed I did and he handed the bag with the diaries to me.

I was then approached by Maria and another one of my members of staff who asked the LTDA rep if he had the diaries. I said I had and handed her the bag.

We all the proceeded into Palestra and went back to our business of doing our best to serve the great London taxi and private hire trades as best we can.

I hope this clarifies matters and trust you will put matters straight on your website and, in particular, you will retract the inaccuracies and incorrect statements made about me in your article.

Enjoy your weekend

Kind regards

John Mason

Continue reading »]]> Thanks to the work done by the United Cabbies Group, the recent problem at Euston Station where the wrong signage was used has now been resolved.

After liaising with the Station’s Interface Manager Colin Walker we explained the problem and he agreed to act on our concerns.

And true to his word Colin Walker has changed all the signs to much clearer ones and this we hope will resolve the problem.

We would like to thank Colin Walker for his co-operation.

United Cabbies Group… Fighting for the London Taxi Trade… Join Us Today!

Continue reading »]]> Over the past few weeks there have been problems for Taxi drivers at Euston Station with regards to a new Pick Up Point that has suddenly appeared just in front of the Set Down Point.

Station staff in their wisdom decided to erect new railings and signage around this area to make it an official ‘Disabled Pick Up Point’, unfortunately the new signage they chose to display did not make it clear that this pick up point was for mobilty impaired passengers only.

This led to some confusion amongst Taxi drivers with most pulling onto the original rank downstairs, but some stopping and ranking upstairs at the new rank. Tensions were rising between drivers who had waited for a job for anything upto 45 minutes downstairs, whilst watching the drivers upstairs pick up and get off almost immediately.

Following reports of arguments and confrontations between cabbies, the United Cabbies Group decided that this situation must be resolved before things escalated into something more serious, so we arranged a meeting with the station management to alert them to the problems that this new area was causing.

UCG officers met with the Station Interface Manager Colin Walker where we explained that although the intentions were good, the implementation of this scheme was wrong, and the signs made it unclear to both passengers and drivers alike as to where they should wait to be picked up.

We explained to him that before too long cab drivers would not bother to rank downstairs and would start ranking upstairs and the queue of Taxis would soon spill out on to Melton street.

Colin acknowledged the problem and agreed that there should be better signage that states clearly that this new area was for disabled pick ups only, as has always been the norm.

He has told us that he will be adding the word ‘Mobility’ to the signs over the next few weeks, and he will also be painting a wheelchair symbol on the floor.

He also plans to instruct the staff that usually marshal the downstairs rank during busy periods to work upstairs at this new area after the rush has died down.

Until these changes have been made we ask all Taxi drivers to treat your fellow colleagues with respect and only pick up mobility impaired passengers from the upstairs rank.

We would like to thank Colin Walker for his understanding, and we hope that things return to normal as soon as possible.

United Cabbies Group – We move whilst the others snooze!