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Who’s going? Unfortunately for this magazine, the last issue of Call Sign allowed our new printers an extra two days to prepare their first issue for us – and in those two days the news broke of the wife-killing minicab-driving paranoid schizophrenic being told that he may have been fine for driving a minicab, but he had nowhere near the high standards required to become a licensed London taxi driver. Whereas I managed to remove the page that contained photos and comments from eight Dial-a-Cab drivers at the Penton Street demo - as those quotes had become irrelevant following the breaking news - I couldn’t alter my Editorial, which asked whether another paranoid schizophrenic who had been locked up for murdering his friend and was in the process of eating him when caught, would get similar privileges had he not been locked up in Broadmoor? However, one part of that Editorial still remains relevant. Towards the end, I asked a simple question. It read: What I’d like to know is just who at the PCO/TfL thought that someone with this man’s record should be able to go onto the Knowledge – especially as it is common knowledge that the (PCO) examiners were all against it? And whoever’s decision to allow him to continue it was, I think they should carefully consider whether they are the right person to hold their high position at the PCO… But no one seems to have shown a tinge of honour by at least holding their hands up and saying they got it wrong. If it were not for the demonstrating drivers on both demos – the RMT first and then the United Trade drive-in the following week – make no mistake, that guy would be on the Knowledge now and the licensed taxi business would be just a short period away from having a paranoid schizophrenic in its’ midst – one who we would have to rely on to take his medication or…. well who knows. Many in his position live full and happy lives, but not as licensed London taxi drivers. Call Sign was on the front line in 1999, campaigning (successfully as it turned out) for the PCO to return licenses to diabetics who were on tablets but who were told to hand in their Bills. The Head of the PCO at the time, Roy Ellis, didn’t need prompting but immediately gave a response to this magazine explaining his position. Whether we agreed was irrelevant, but he didn’t hide. Has anyone heard anything from Penton Street? After all, you don’t do the Knowledge from City Hall. The answer is no, they just duck and wait for anything they don’t like to blow over. It’s a shame, because there are some very intelligent people based at Penton Street who have obviously been forbidden from talking to the trade press about anything other than how much they enjoyed going on a trade charity outing. TfL/PCO will have noticed that real taxi drivers were happy to give of their time to protect the public against the possibility of danger from this individual. We uphold moral values – can TfL say the same? Clearly not. After all that has been said and done, what would have |
 happened had not the story been leaked? Like several in the trade, I knew about it for some time before the story broke and assumed that he would be kicked off quietly. We weren’t looking to make the candidate a scapegoat. Whilst I don’t go along with this "it’s not his fault and he may be a nice chap" rubbish – he killed his wife, for God’s sake – there was no point in prolonging his agony. But TfL/PCO knew about it and did nothing. Therefore TfL should question the suitability to remain in office of the person who gave permission, because the licensed taxi trade now has no confidence in their decision-making ability. Do the honourable thing and go now… Cab Trade News An article by Peter Rose in September’s Cab Trade News made me smile. Using material that sounded like it had been obtained from an internet chat room, it criticised Dial-a-Cab but couched that criticism in question form rather than giving a view. But there was no need to worry Peter, no one at DaC would have smacked you on the wrist had you been brave enough to personalise your criticism, rather than keep referring to "someone said" etc, they would just have corrected you. And your views on Concierge are wrong - again obviously come from a third party. After all, try phoning DaC and asking for a minicab? You won’t get one. In fact, if 99.9% of DaC’s account clients asked for one, they wouldn’t have any more luck than you. But four account clients do have that facility, but only for the car companies they have previously nominated. I think it’s fair to say that if we did not provide them with that facility, they would just phone those nominated car companies direct and quite possibly give them work that we get, because however big those four accounts are – and they total £millions to DaC and its drivers – they only get the facility if they also use a large number of DaC taxis – and so far as I can see, those large numbers amount to many more taxi trips than the cars they also ask DaC for. But what makes me smile even more is that Peter is a member of the former T&G Cab Section at Unite – as a whole Britain’s biggest union, but for their tiny cab section, it is debatable whether the number of London taxi drivers who are members even reaches 3 figures. Yet no minicab driver that wanted to join the Unite main section would be turned away. I don’t remember Peter kicking up a fuss about that. And unlike Unite, you won’t find any minicab drivers working at DaC! There are some very nice, sincere guys on DaC who are also members of the Unite Cab Section, but they don’t go around criticising without knowing the facts as Peter has. In fact, I’ve met Peter several times and he is also a likable guy who cares about the trade. But, like them or not, you won’t find any minicab drivers in |
the LTDA or LCDC as you will in Unite. Even stranger, I left the T&G some 20 years or so and joined the LTDA. Why did I leave? Because at my 1/230 branch meetings, the London taxi business always took third place to discussions on the latest situation in Cuba and/or Hackney Labour Party. If there was time left then we’d get in some taxi talk. Go to the Unite website now and one of the main stories is on the Miami Five – the story of 5 imprisoned Cubans. They don’t seem to mention Hackney Labour Party, but perhaps I wasn’t looking in the right place! But I read enough to know that Unite will support workers in any industry – and PH drivers are an industry. I think the bottom line, Peter, is that if you are bored and fancy slagging someone off, at least check your facts first. Cycling paradise? Alan Fisher |
