Dump the app and hail London cabbies

MY DAD has been a London cabbie for more than 40 years and although I’ve never known him to have had a good day at work (it has been “quiet out” every day since I was five), I have also never seen him or his colleagues more dejected. The morale of our city’s drivers has never been lower and I can entirely understand why.

London’s black taxi service is the best and safest in the world. Every driver who passes The Knowledge completes the equivalent of a degree yet they are forced to compete with drivers who may have only recently passed their driving test and pose a serious risk to passenger safety.

Black taxis cost a fortune to run yet the drivers have been ignored by city planners in decisions which seriously affect their income and the spiralling costs of maintaining their vehicles.

They are a key part of London’s transport infrastructure yet they have been stopped from using certain bus lanes and other parts of the city they used to have access to. Black taxi drivers are in a profession which has been undermined and denigrated for far too long.

With local governments ignoring them, it’s time for Londoners to support our drivers. It doesn’t cost much more and you can make a real difference. Don’t reach for an app if you’re in town, hail one of London’s finest instead.