I think that the last
issue of Call Sign must
have set some sort of personal record,
because for one week afterwards, my
phone never stopped ringing. And it
wasn’t just about one thing. It was
quite strange really.
One of the callers suggested that whilst he usually enjoyed reading
Call Sign, he felt that
there were two things spoiling the
August issue. Firstly he believed that I
should not write about any trade matters
other than those involving Dial-a-Cab.
His particular beef involved my comments
on the time that the Knowledge of London
seems to be taking.
My view on the subject has never changed and the only reason I
mention the subject is because I care
very much about this trade’s future and
I am concerned that if not enough young
people want to go on the KoL, then
eventually this trade will be overrun by
minicabs. They are pretty close and if
there are enough licensed taxis as many
scribes in the trade press constantly
tell us, how come there are so many
private hire vehicles already, with
their numbers multiplying by the week?
But I’m happy to share the view of at least one respected trade
journalist and that is Alf Townsend, who
came out in The Cab Driver saying
pretty much the same things as I’ve been
saying for a long time.
I have now had to tell the PCO on two occasions that I will not
publish press releases giving joint
"facts" about this trade and private
hire. Last year I took offence at a
press release detailing the number of
licensed drivers who had been
"convicted" of misdemeanours as 1095, a
figure I found hard to believe would
include a significant number of taxi
drivers. I asked the PCO how many were
"ours" from that huge total and was told
13! Yet the PCO thought it prudent to
address both sections of the trade as
though we were as guilty as each other.
Now I have refused yet another release, this one suggesting that 9
"licensed" drivers have either been
prosecuted or are awaiting prosecution
for offences against the Disability
Discrimination Act. Those already found
guilty, we were told, faced sentences of
£300 and in some cases, the loss of
their driving licence. The press release
has gone into several trade papers.
So again Call Sign asked the PCO how many of this
total of 12 were licensed taxi drivers?
The answer we received was none? NOT
ONE! Yet we were all lumped together.
So, the reason I have said so often that I believe there aren’t
enough drivers getting through the
Knowledge is because we are not only
being swamped by PH, but even the PCO
(and more probably TfL) are
beginning the process of downgrading us.
We need more taxi drivers and |
if that makes it quieter to start (it
won’t always be August), then that is
something we’ll have to put up with
because this is about survival – and if
you think I’m wrong then just look
around you at the number of cars now
licensed. Once the public know they can
get a taxi much easier, they’ll flock
back because most of them prefer us but
can’t be bothered with long waits from
late afternoon into the evening and the
hour or so after midnight.
One further point I felt I had to add was that those trade papers
that offer a view seem unified in trying
to keep taxi numbers, so if I don’t give
my view - and isn’t an Editorial the
views of the Editor - then who will put
the view out there? So sadly I had to
disagree with that driver’s first point…
His second was whether DaC Board members should be able to use
their column to include politics – ok,
he was talking about Tom Whitbread!
Tom’s columns have always made
interesting reading because he isn’t
afraid to air his views, but I took note
of the driver’s request and will be
asking Tom to try and stick to cab
business. Dunno whether that driver felt
it was worth his while phoning, but
one-all isn’t a bad result – and we had
a good chat!
And the
other side…
Prior to that driver calling, I had
another who also phoned about the
Knowledge. This driver had a more
personal beef about it because it
involved his son who he felt was being
held back and wanted me to write about
it – in other words, the opposite view
to the other driver. He didn’t want to
be named fearing that his son would
suffer at the hands of a KoL examiner
(are they are that petty, but he wanted
to be safe rather than sorry)?
He claimed that his son had been on the Knowledge for well over
three years, yet was answering question
after question correctly. He then
claimed that ethnic drivers were getting
out far quicker and that his son had
spoken to a black Knowledge boy who had
"been given an easy run."
I think that all of us who have been on the KoL have tales to tell
of one driver getting it easier than
another or that he/she has been held
back. In all honesty, while I had every
sympathy for this DaC driver’s son, I
somehow couldn’t believe that the PCO /
TfL would be that stupid. After all,
they are the ones who put out the
press
|
release
about drivers breaking the DDA, even if
they did address it to the wrong group.
However, I must add that I also hope that the Mayor’s "initiative" in
fast-tracking ethnic minorities has been
grossly exaggerated, because if it
hasn’t and an ethnic taxi driver stops
another driver to ask the way because
his Knowledge wasn’t up to
scratch, the PCO and their masters will
have a taxi war of words on their hands
that I wouldn’t want to be around to
listen to!
I’d like to know the views of any non-white driver on DaC when it
comes to so-called fast tracking,
because those already out there have
done the Knowledge the hard way – the
proper way.
So as I’ve said so many times, I am against shortening the
Knowledge, I am against computerising
the Knowledge (which is where I disagree
with the Taxi Board), I am against
anything that makes it easier and I am
against any form of favouritism. It
should be equal for all. More than
anything, I am against PCO examiners
deliberately holding back someone who is
good enough to pass out.
As for all the other phone calls, that’s for another day…!
London
Mayoral elections…
This issue of Call Sign
has an interview with London
Conservative Mayoral candidate, Victoria
Borwick. This is probably different from
any other interview given in a trade
paper because DaC drivers selected the
questions.
There are four Conservative candidates fighting for the one place
to go up against Ken Livingstone in May
2008 and the decision as to who that one
candidate will be is decided at the end
of this month. So because Call
Sign is monthly, we will only be
getting one crack at an interview and
have picked Victoria Borwick because of
her connection to the taxi business.
Her husband, Jamie, was the former Chairman of LTI parent company
Manganese Bronze, until leaving and
starting up the Modec Electric Van,
which originally began life with LTI as
the Electric Mercury but never made it
as a commercial enterprise. Now again
under Jamie, it has become a big
success.
Jamie Borwick was without doubt someone who not only thought the
London Taxi and its drivers were
brilliant, but would tell that to anyone
who listened. He also drove everywhere
in his own taxi with its licensed
driver.
So it seemed logical to see how much of her husband’s admiration of
our business is inside Victoria Borwick.
Alan Fisher
callsignmag@aol.com |
