Taxi Driver Online

I apologise for not welcoming you back, I hope you had been nice little break, I believe that the Alps are beautiful at this time of the year,
I am conversant with what it takes to bring about change and also how to stop it, change by a new act would have Many Against It, I am not against change, nor do I waste my time on battles that cannot be won , I think soon things may become more apparent.....

_________________
Justice for the 96. It has only taken 27 years...........repeat the same lies for 27 years and the truth sounds strange to people!

Pardon me, but could I have my 2 penneth worth, someone keeps mentioning the NTA and only England and Wales are mentioned, What about that bit north of Hadrian's wall Where the water of life is made,(not buck-fast) and the Kilt is worn, and we have to go hunting for our national dish the Haggis.
If we are to have a NATIONAL TAXI ASOSIATION please lets include Scotland.
We have daft rules and regulations that need sorting as well, and even dafter councils who are only interested in lining there own pockets.
The way I see it is we need a completely new rule book that is written in plain English Scottish and Welsh, and any other language, that might be needed, instead of all that mumbo jumbo that we have at the moment, and we should forget all about 19 canteen and deal with real life.
and then we can ALL sing from the same page in the song book. and know all the words by heart

You wanted to rule yourselves and now I believe you do, so get on with it , we have enough problems fighting amongst ourselves without including you... I have had ago at shooting haggis, A Scottish gentleman advised me the best time was between 3:00am and 3.30 am tried it for a week never got one .... .

_________________
Justice for the 96. It has only taken 27 years...........repeat the same lies for 27 years and the truth sounds strange to people!

Its apparent you spoke to a sober Scot, what you have to do when going shooting haggis, is drink 2 bottles of the finest, then go into the hills wearing a kilt, and bend over keeping very still and down wind:lol:
We are not all raving nationalist we realize that the rest of the UK would be lost without us.
We need fare play as well, and the bigger the voice the better.
We need the Government to set the licence fees not the councils they only try to exploit us with admin fees, for eg a drivers licence I think should be no more than £20 for 3 years and an operators no more than £100.00 and that should include the mot's and plates per year.
and exactly the same for the PH

What bit?

_________________
IDFIMH

Surely Taxi organisations should concentrate on whats best for their members.

The problem here is that you wouldn't accept new legislation unless it allowed the things you wanted.

Are you therefore willing to accept the London Private Hire Act in its entirity, as this is the most recent Act relating to the taxi trade, and would you back an NTA call for it to be adopted in all areas of England and Wales.

I would suggest that if you want the National groups to make the changes you want then it might be an idea to join them ................... after all you can only win the lottery if you buy a ticket.

B. Lucky

_________________
"Here's a simple solution. If you don't want to pay more for a premium service then wait in the queue, problem solved".
Skull on TDO

TF pi$$ed on his chips.

Contact the NTA and ask for an application form ................. I don't believe there is a restriction which stops you from joining.

As MrT pointed out though ........... legislation is different as is the will not to be governed by England ..................... even though England is actually governed by Scotsmen.

The NTA is operated in regions and I'm sure they would welcome a Scottish Region, if there isn't one already.

All these calls for Law change are a waste of time .................. this website probably accounts for less than 1% of taxi drivers in the UK and opinions are fiercely divided ..................... god knows how many other opinions, suggestions and how much more confusion would be made trying to write a new Taxi Act ................... because of that the process could not be completed to everyone's satisfaction within a lifetime. So the best way, and quickest way forward is to review and not to rewrite.

B. Lucky

_________________
"Here's a simple solution. If you don't want to pay more for a premium service then wait in the queue, problem solved".
Skull on TDO

TF pi$$ed on his chips.

But I thought the NTA said that councils know best

And didn't Captain NTA say that he preferred tinkering rather that fundamental change?

_________________
Taxi Driver Online
www.taxi-driver.co.uk

Why?

It'll happen eventually. Look how long London PH licensing took; but the vested interests who didn't want it were defeated eventually.

And don't forget the Section 75 exemption.

These things take time.





Yes, but surely it's the strength of the argument that's imporant, not that some may be against it.

I mean, the NTA may represent a few thousand people, but it didn't achieve much re the DfT's restricted numbers best practice guidance - as the document said re premiums - in rather unemotive civil service speak -it's very difficult to defend.




Well that's a bit naive - what piece of legislation isn't the result of consultation and the distillation regarding fiercely conflicting arguments?

No one will every be 100% happy with the final result, and some won't be very happy at all, but that's democracy, and it's slightly better that government by fiat.

After all, once the London PHV process got going it was possible to pass legislation despite fierce opposition, and the same happened in Ireland later still, and the Scottish legislation was little more than 20 years old when it was reviewed, so why can't it happen in England and Wales?

It's about lack of political will and Parliamentary time if you ask me, it's not about officialdom not seeing the need for a rewrite.

As I said earlier, I think this sudden liking for tinkering round the edges rather that rewriting the legislation is because people like yourself know that you'll probably dislike new legislation more than the old, and possibly lose whatever influence you currently have at the local level.

But in my opinion it should be about the greater good, not the current vested interests

_________________
Taxi Driver Online
www.taxi-driver.co.uk

Haven't been away, it's just that the gap between my posts is getting longer and longer

_________________
Taxi Driver Online
www.taxi-driver.co.uk

Well put Dusty, but don't you think its remarkable that all these people who have manoeuvred themselves into positions of prominence in there own backyards and in there own little way, that they do not want the taxi trade brought into the 21st century, by way of new legislation? Instead they prefer to tinker around the edges of outdated legislation designed for the horse cart?

I hope all you free thinking fellows out there are reading what's being said in this debate because it will give you an insight into the thinking of those who supposedly represent the Taxi trade.

These people are quite happy to see Victorian legislation dating back to 1847 Govern the Taxi trade for another 160 years and probably indefinitely as long as quantity controls remain in those 88 authorities that presently retain them. That's the measure of forward thinking we have in these Local and National organisations and that's why you will never see them campaigning for new legislation even though many of them have a public platform in several Trade magazines.

These guys really make me sick because many of them are only in their elevated positions to further their own agenda. They couldn't give a chit as to what is best for the Taxi trade, as long as they can keep in place legislation that gives them a chance of retaining quantity controls.

My archives are full of these guys spewing out the same old nonsence about retaining quantity controls but funny enough in the same archives and from the same people, the silence is deafening on modern Taxi legislation. The exception being the few instances where the T&G have called for legislative change?

Thats the top and bottom of it.

I say to the NTA and everyone else who sits silent in calling for new legislation, "keep on tinkering guys" and lets see what you can achieve by 3006?

Regards

JD

Yes, you've hit the nail on the head - it's not about the need for new legislation, it's about quantity controls in particular and influence at the local level more generally.

I think these guys are scared that if new legislation was passed then it would outlaw restricted numbers and remove control from LAs more generally, whether by way of a taxi regulator or just more prescriptive legislation that would remove much of the discretion that LAs currently enjoy.

Indeed, I'm sure that some of these people have called for new legislation in the past, but that was when they assumed that it was self-evident that this would tighten controls on numbers, not remove them.

The T&G has persistently called for a 'National Cab Act' over the years, but this is posited merely on the grounds that it would further pander to restricted numbers rather than remove them, and I'd bet my last dollar that if a new Act was proposed but didn't go the way the T&G wanted then suddenly the old 'horse and cart' legislation would take on a whole new attractiveness!

Thus just the same as the 'councils know best' argument - when councils don't do as they're told it's a whole different ball game, and the message changes accordingly.

_________________
Taxi Driver Online
www.taxi-driver.co.uk

To give those who are calling for tinkering rather than new legislation some credit, they are at least not as naive as the T&G, because I think they know what it would entail, and that's why they're opposed to it.

_________________
Taxi Driver Online
www.taxi-driver.co.uk

Not opposed to it, just realistic, no offence meant to you dusty but being a keyboard warrior is completely different than being in the real world which I think you know,

The simplest choice would be to sit back and do not a thing , sorry I should have said sit behind a keyboard and criticise. but if I had have said that I would be as childish as them that do,

_________________
Justice for the 96. It has only taken 27 years...........repeat the same lies for 27 years and the truth sounds strange to people!

So could you explain the difference between being a 'keyboard warrior' and being in the real world, particularly in the context of myself?

_________________
Taxi Driver Online
www.taxi-driver.co.uk