Taxi Drivers To Protest In London

More than 5,000 taxi drivers are to protest at what they consider as government bias against the black cab trade and the promotion of private hire firms by 'light touch' regulation at the expense of passenger safety.

The taxi trade protest will be held tomorrow, 10 February, from 2.30pm in Whitehall, London, SW1.

Unite the union which is representing many of London's 25,000 taxi drivers, said the issues facing taxi drivers in the capital were mirrored across the UK.

Unite called for standards for the black taxi and private hire sectors to be raised upwards and an end to 'a race to the bottom'. It claims the recent private hire review in London was influenced by 'threats' from business secretary Sajid Javid.

An opportunity to deal with many safety issues associated with the arrival of 'app' based private hire operations was missed, said the union.

Chair of the Unite London & Eastern taxi cab section Jim Kelly said: "It is clear that the government, London mayor Boris Johnson and the Tory candidate for mayor Zac Goldsmith have all seriously taken against the black taxi trade in London, a taxi trade which consistently comes out top in terms of value and service compared to other cities around the globe.

"We feel that Uber exploits its drivers by using their self-employed status to extract maximum income from them which translates to those drivers working long hours.

"The reduction in safety for passengers because of the ‘light touch’ regime is to be deplored. It is a race-to-the bottom - when in 2016 we want the highest possible standards.

"The London taxi fleet is 100 per cent wheelchair accessible. There is no compulsion on private hire operators such as Uber to provide for these passengers."