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Letter To Taxi Leaks : Taxi Trade Must Call For A Public Inquiry...byDave Davies

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I acknowledge that you are trying your best to make things happen. My frustration is that no one seems to listen to what I’m saying (and have been for many years)

 

TFL is corrupt. It is absolutely pointless protesting to them, meeting with them, speaking with them  or asking for them to do anything.

Sadiq Khan is the same . He promised that he would take action and he hasn’t. He is as much a part of the problem as TFL.

In fact you would not want to engage with him because he will use it as a an opportunity to cover up what is taking place. You would get a sham investigation.

 

The Standard published an article saying the demo was about bogus medical certificates.

 

My point was that the ONLY way anything will change is a Public Inquiry.

It is pointless asking TFL  or Sadiq Khan (who is chair of TFL) for a Public Inquiry as it will expose their own corruption.

 

Chris Grayling is Secretary of State for Transport. He has the legislative power to initiate a Public Inquiry for any  transport related issues. Daniel Zeichner does not have the power to do this although lobbying him may help.

 

The Taxi trade needs to have a focussed message by calling for a Public Inquiry into TFL because it has failed to comply with Public Law on many issues relating to London Taxis.

It needs to have a clear objective of how to achieve this; perhaps for as many Taxi Drivers as possible to write to their MPs asking them to formally support the call for  A Public Inquiry into TFL by the MP writing to Chris Grayling. 

Any taxi drivers who are constituents in Epsom and Ewell can email Chris Grayling directly asking for a Public Inquiry.

Any future protest needs to be focused on getting the attention of Chris Grayling and the media.   Perhaps outside his constituency office or outside the DFT Great Minster House33 Horseferry Rd, London SW1P 4DR

 

A protest at the DFT will focus attention on the fact that the DFT are allowing TFL to act with no accountability. It is not acceptable for them to say they don’t have jurisdiction when they clearly have the legislative power to intimate a Public Inquiry.

 

The protest yesterday did not get the attention of anyone who can do anything about the situation and the media reported it was about bogus medical certificates. As someone else said ; TFL were probably looking out of the window laughing.; they know you can’t touch them by this action.

 

I have said many times that the Taxi trade needs to do things properly.

A clear message with a clear objective should be delivered by means of a formal Press Release and a formal Press Conference conducted by someone who is competent to do so.

I saw a clip of Grant Davis speaking to a reporter amongst a scrum of drivers all adding irrelevant comments which distracted attention from the clear point that should have been made.

 

My frustration is compounded by my inability to communicate these points . I tried to give help and yet again it has been ignored.

 

Its not a case that you need to do some of the above for things to happen. It has to be 100 % correct; The right message , the right objective , proper target for a protest , proper Press Release and Proper Press conference

 

As always I wish you the best with your efforts.

Good luck.

Dave

 

 

Please  see the draft letter below. It may be good to send this out to drivers/members and ask them to post /share it?

 

Dear Taxi Drivers

Please copy and paste the letter below and email to your local MP asking for their urgent support.

A Public Inquiry to investigate TFL is the only way change will happen

 

Don't forget to add your full name and address or your MP may not reply. 


Dear (your local MP)

Can you please support the call for a Public inquiry to investigate the serious failures of Transport for London?

London is gridlocked and choking with toxic air pollution.

The regulatory body responsible for this is Transport for London, which is a Public Body.

Unfortunately TFL is not structured as a Public Body and does not act  as a Public Body  in compliance with Public Law.

It is structured as a complicated web of private Limited Companies with TFL employees as directors of those companies.

TFL has an annual budget in excess of £11 billion of taxpayers money yet is accountable to absolutely no one.

The structure of TFL and its lack of accountability is something in itself which should be properly scrutinized.

 

However there are far more serious issues as a result of that lack of accountability.

 

TFL have failed to act in compliance with Public Law on many issues

London Taxi and Private Hire –LTPH- have failed to regulate properly. 

·         They have issued tens of thousands of Private Hire Licenses without proper background checks, without proper insurance checks , without proper medical checks and with no proper regulation or enforcement.

The result is traffic congestion, air pollution and Londoners being exposed to serious safety and security risks.

·         They have introduced a Taxi Age Limit based on false evidence that the newer taxis were less polluting. More than 10,000 London Taxis have been scrapped at great expense to drivers for no proper purpose. Trade organisations were misled by TFL that this policy would reduce air pollution when the technical evidence clearly showed the older taxis were less polluting

·         There is no proper process or consultation with many of the other decisions made by LTPH in relation to Taxis and Private Hire

TFL have also failed on many other issues.

·         They have failed to comply with proper planning process. The Cycle Lanes which have contributed to the gridlocked streets and therefore more air pollution is one example. TFL ignored the Planning process claiming the project was ‘road improvements’ and not a change of use, even though they were changing the use of the road specifically for cycles. The result is clear to see.

·         They have failed with proper procurement process. This includes the Garden Bridge project and the Old London Underground projects which have both failed to comply with proper lawful process.

·         The number of empty buses driving in central London causing congestion and pollution has increased, and at the same time the Directors of TFL hold significant shares in the bus companies.

 

In December 2014 the GLA Transport Committee filed a report about TFL following an extensive inquiry, in relation to Taxi and Private Hire. The report listed many failings and described TFL as ‘Woefully Inadequate’. The result of that report was absolutely nothing. 

This confirms two things; firstly that TFL are failing and not acting in compliance with Public  Law and secondly that they are unaccountable. They just ignored the Transport Committee inquiry and report and took no action.

 

https://www.london.gov.uk/press-releases/taxi-and-private-hire-rep

 

Public Law

It is a requirement of Public Law that decisions made by a Public body or someone in Public Office follow correct procedure, are rational and evidence based, for proper purpose, proportionate and properly reasoned. These criteria exist to ensure that decisions made by a Public Body result in effective policies and strategies.  It is extremely important to acknowledge that these criteria are not just an obligation they are legal requirements and the failure to comply with these requirements is the reason why TFL’s decisions and  strategies have failed.

 

The legal requirements for a Public Body are to

1/Follow correct procedure

2/ Be Rational and Evidence based

3/Have proper purpose

4/to comply with the European Convention for Human Rights

5/To be Proportionate

6/To be properly Reasoned

 

TFL have failed to comply with these requirements.

 

Public Inquiry



It seems that the Government has taken no notice of many complaints about TFL (including by MPs) and the obvious failings, despite the clear lack of compliance with Public Law and the clear harm to the Public (from air pollution , sexual assaults, and the numerous accidents in London caused by unregulated drivers) 
The ONLY reasonable solution is for the failures to be properly investigated in the format of a Judicial Public Inquiry

Certain characteristics can be identified in those public inquiries that have taken place:
·         Widespread loss of life
·         Threats to public health or safety
·         Failure by the state in its duty to protect
·         Failure in regulation
·         Shocking events
1.      Allegations of serious misconduct and prima facie merit have been made against those acting, or purporting to act, on behalf of the state and
2.      Those allegations are sufficiently widespread and are being treated sufficiently seriously by those outside Government to undermine the public’s confidence in the integrity of the State and in the rule of law and
3.      The allegations relate to a sufficiently defined event or series of events to allow an inquiry to be given proper and clear terms of reference and
An inquiry would represent the most effective means of establishing the merit of the allegations made and so of restoring public confidence.
It is the best possible way of establishing why previous TFL strategies have failed so that these mistakes are not repeated and proper effective urgent action is taken in the future.

 

Regards (Taxi Drivers Name, Badge No and Fulll Address)

 

 


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