my head, I shall defend myself with the utmost rigour and as I am almost 17 stone and a keen and experienced powerlifter, I think that they will at least know that they have been in a fight! Still, enough of these pleasantries.
   It seems to me that because I put these concerns of mine into writing, you think that I am making personal attacks; nothing could be further from the truth. I was trying to give some issues an airing and engage you in intelligent debate. So for the life of me, I can’t see from my last letter where there was any personal attacks on my fellow subscriber. Could you for once explain and stick to the point, just what is it I said that is so "appalling?"
   As for me "constantly talking" about the ‘gutter press’, it was you that keeps asking me about it when everyone else in the country seems to know what the term means and who these whores are.
   As far as I can see, the definition you give for them ie " if you don’t agree with my views, then we don’t want to hear yours, so keep your mouth shut" would be more fitting for a fascist, you know, someone that wants to stop Trade Unionists from picketing or handing out leaflets advocating free speech etc and wants to "knock some sense" into people’s heads.
   Now I have explained things to you and I welcome the chance to engage in democratic debate within our Call Sign forum.
   In your August editorial, you seem down about what you perceive to be a negative attitude from some quarters. Cheer up Dial-a-Cab, you have been a wonderful Owner Drivers co-operative and I, for one, intend to pass it on as such to future young ‘butter-boys. Soon to be enacted - legislation permitting of course.
Stephen Martin (Y85)

Had you told me earlier that you were a seventeen stone power-lifter, Steve, I would have been much nicer to you! However, continuing our debate, the word ‘appalling’ wasn’t rally the correct one for the example I was trying to give you and I’m sorry if it offended you. Had I not had the problem of conserving space in the letters page so as to get in as many as possible, I would have explained myself clearer (hopefully). Now, with the holiday season upon us, I seem to have more space that usual, so here goes! When you emphasise Ron Colman’s use of the term "most acceptable representatives", it struck me as being rather sarcastic to another subscriber’s views. Ron’s term is not the way most would express satisfaction with a BoM. We would probably just say that they are a good BoM. However, Ron is more forthcoming with his feelings and some obviously find it strange to use that type of terminology just as some would find it normal. Letters are all about opinions and mine was, after reading your letter in the August issue, that you were taking the pee

out of a fellow subscriber. That is why I took some umbrage at it. I believe that you realise from your current letter where you wonder if you are being paranoid, that his remarks were obviously not meant to be taken literally. There are no men in sun glasses around so far as I am aware (unless it is for sun protection, of course). Which still leaves us with one of my first questions to you. Which newspapers would you consider NOT to be part of the gutter press? Which ones do you read? I am not trying to catch you out, Steve, but after your remarks on the gutter press, I am interested in those that you consider are not within that category. And as someone who obviously holds passionate views, what do you think of Call Sign? I am always interested in subscribers views. And finally Steve, can you write anything about your involvement with power-lifting? It sounds quite different from most driver’s sports…Ed

NOW THAT HE’S GONE FORTH…
Since Eric Forth MP dropped his objections, the Private Hire Vehicles (London) Bill looks as if it will become law this year. What effect does the Board of Management feel this act will have on the business of ODRTS and its members?
Paul Webb (P62)

Brian Rice replies:
Paul, you are obviously aware that I am a member of the Taxiboard as JRTA’s representative together with Geoffrey Riesel of Radio Taxis. I would like to make it quite clear that politicians always saw the Licensed taxi trade as wreckers, only interested in protecting their restrictive practice. You and I know that this is not the case, just as we both know that it doesn’t always matter what the truth is, it’s what people believe that is important. This present government have a huge majority in the House and they made it quite clear that should Sir George Young’s bill fail, they would push through their own legislation, so the Taxiboard had a choice; either welcome Sir George’s bill and try to influence the content, or have Government legislation foisted upon us without us having any input. We decided to take the first choice and I believe that the Taxiboard were very successful in having a Topographical knowledge included and getting the vehicles licensed by the PCO. Please don’t think that the insertions in the bill just happened, people on the Taxiboard worked extremely hard on having the amendments included, spending many hours lobbying MP’s and attending meetings, while all the time dealing with our opposite numbers in the mini-cab industry.
   That is a very brief précis on the background to the bill and I will now endeavour to answer the question.
   I believe that the aim of the Licensed trade should be ‘one standard of driver’ whether you are 

driving a car or a taxi, the qualification should be the same. Obviously this cannot be introduced overnight, but it must be the goal for the Licensed trade. When Sir George’s bill becomes law, it will have some effect on the mini-cab trade on top of the obvious benefits the public will receive. The unlicensed trade will lose its transient workforce and there will be a considerable cost to them onbecoming legitimate; licence fees, vehicles properly maintained and dare I say the Inland Revenue, all of these and more will make their prices more compatible with ours and there will be less chance of them undercutting us. However I believe that the most important point is enforcement. You can have all the legislation in the world but if it is not enforced it means nothing, therefore an army of enforcement officers are needed, paid for from the licence fees imposed on the Private Hire industry. I am aware that when they become Licensed there will be a concerted attack on our client base by the larger Private Hire companies who will have visions of expansion, after all it is estimated that the unlicensed trade turns over in excess of one billion pounds per annum now! Everyone in the Taxi industry needs to be aware of the possible threat to the Radio Taxi business, we do not want the situation that exists in New York where taxis work the street while Limousines (private hire) work the radio. There is no short answer to your question, it is a subject that can and will be written about and discussed for hours. But, provided the people in our industry that make decisions are aware of the threat, then the future of Dial a Cab is secure. Our industry needs - and will - change and instead of us worrying about the unlicensed trade, perhaps they need to worry about Dial a Cab.

CALL SIGN CROSSES THE POND
Last night I was re-reading Call Sign and came up with what Roy Masterson has declared "yet another good enhancement for V6". It's no big deal, but the fact of the matter is that the mag gives us a better picture of what's going on at DAC so that we can make improvements where needed. This is not the first time that we have modified V6 due to Call Sign info. Especially in the area of driver activity, we are often unaware of what "makes them tick". The magazine is great for that and I think DAC gets better service (from this vendor) because of it.
Debbie Carter
RTC, Indiana

Tom and Debbie Carter as RTC in Indiana, write most of our software and are responsible for V6 - the system that you are part of every working day. Anytime you, as a driver, would like to suggest a possible software enhancement that you feel might improve our operation and at the same time make your life easier, Call Sign could well be the medium to write to…Ed

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