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Call Sign and the RMT I have never made and bones about the fact that I am an LTDA member and that I believe it to be the best trade organisation to join because it already has far more taxi-driving members than all the others added together. However, even though Call Sign and/or Dial-a-Cab have found themselves under attack by some of the other driver organisations, I have always believed in the right to respond and over the years, I have published letters or articles by those that would criticise. I also said when the RMT Taxi Branch came into being, round about the time of the Whitcomb Street demo, that I would never join an organisation that had Bob Crow as its leader. That hasn’t changed. Whilst this trade could use a bit of militancy, I don’t like Bob Crow’s version of it. However, I have a lot of time for the RMT Taxi branch’s outgoing Chairman, DaC driver Eddie Lambert (V27). Eddie is one of the most trustworthy reps of any trade organisation that I have ever met and even though that representation is for the RMT, I dislike the fact that one trade paper is constantly attacking them, but without giving them an opportunity to respond. So Call Sign has done that in this issue and Eddie tells of the RMT’s position re the Working Time Directive, Tachographs in taxis and what goes on between the RMT and the GMB. His answer is something that the trade should have the opportunity to see, whether they like the answer or not... Fame! Election |
 Do we go to work as a hobby or because we need the money? Well, I for one am fed up with being told that this country must do more for the working class and to help them by making people such as me – who will probably never be able to fully retire – pay through the nose for everything via one tax or another. We in this business have to work and I’m just sick of being spoken about by Alistair Darling and his predecessor – er, what was his name – as having to support the world by constantly paying more. No doubt you’d be surprised to know that our diesel is the cheapest in Europe – until HMG get their grubby hands on it. After they add their tax to spend on some scheme or other that will benefit no one that has to work, our diesel becomes the most expensive in Europe. In December 2003, the Labour government increased stamp duty when you buy a house, from 1% to 3% on properties over £250,000. If you are a first time buyer then HMG (posing as HMRC) let you get away with no stamp duty. Of course there are just a small percentage of first time buyers who can get a mortgage anyway, so that leaves the rest of us. If you are thinking of moving home and spot a nice house somewhere for £250,000 then you will have to donate to Her Majesty’s Revenue and Customs the princely sum of £2500. Buy a home for £250,001 and that tax will shoot up to £7500 – but many areas don’t possess homes below £250K and that isn’t referring to Knightsbridge or Chelsea. Why £250,000? Well to catch people like us who can’t really afford it. I’m not in the slightest bit jealous of anyone who has done well in life, can afford a £5million pad and while finding the added tax to be irritating, can easily afford it. No, we in the taxi industry, together with those in similar ones who earn enough to live and possibly have a decent holiday and the occasional nice meal out are the ones this government aims its taxes at – both hidden and otherwise – and they will not get my vote this time. Who will? Hopefully I’ll have decided by midnight of 5 May... Carole Fresco |
The end? Well that’s another Call Sign year behind me – the completion of my thirteenth year in the Editor’s hot seat and just five months away from Jery Craig’s record of thirteen years and five months – although back then and for some years, the mag came out every two months. Will I beat Jery’s period at the helm? Well that isn’t in my hands, but whatever the Dial-a-Cab Board decide about my future, I must say that I have enjoyed every second of the job and appreciate the incredible freedom I have always had in producing a magazine that I hope many of you have enjoyed reading. I consider the position of Editor to be an honour and I am proud to say that other than having the traditional month of June off each year, during my tenure there has not been one single month where an issue has not appeared. I am also proud of the fact that I took over a twelve-page black and white mag and over time turned it into a 36 page full colour one, with the cost now being less than it was back then - thanks mainly to the use of computerisation. Of course, if you were to believe the internet’s Mr No-Name - The Nissen Hut’s "Russell Wilson" - then the DaC BoM write this magazine. Of course I don’t really care what this expelled former DaC driver says, most readers know that Call Sign is edited only by me and that even Brian Rice – although reading it before publication – never attempts to edit it. And unlike Mr No Name, anyone that writes in Call Sign has to give their name because again, unlike him, they aren’t afraid of being identified. And as I’ve said before, if anyone can show me over my 13-year tenure a case where one single driver has been expelled because of something they wrote in this mag, then I’ll eat "Russell Wilson’s" hat! I’ve just taken another quick look at his blog to see whether – at last – it contained anything of use. Sadly it continues on its merry way just attacking others but not giving them the opportunity to respond. Mind you, as most drivers seem to read the other website (edited by Thomas the Tank but whose name is common knowledge for anyone interested) at The Anderson Shelter, I don’t suppose Mr No Name poses any relevance anyway! So at the risk of repeating myself, whilst The Anderson Shelter has attacked Dial-a-Cab in the past, generally speaking it is an excellent purveyor of up-to-date taxi info and leaves Mr No Name standing. But back to me! If this is it, then can I thank all those people who have written letters and articles over the years because that’s what has made Call Sign so widely read with our on-line version having the biggest readership of any London taxi mag – including the one that "...has more readers than the rest put together!" This mag used the internet when blogs and website were names that few had even heard of, while my 2 email addresses have been around since my first issue back in 1997. But as usual, with or without me, there will be no June issue...!
Alan Fisher |
