[UK] Uber Loses London Taxi Licence.

[BIAD]

Uber in London was a rape fest, must be bad when Khan is worried about it.

Well considering he's the Chairman for Transport for London (TFL) -the organisation that pulled Uber's licence,
he's trying to shift any blame from himself onto the faceless agency, so that it doesn't look like he's let down
the 40,000 underpaid, overworked ethnic minorities.

But what concerns me is the lack of concern from Journalists in regards of why Uber has been banned from London.
In usual cases of businesses being punished for their conduct, it's tax-evasion, poor standards of pay and conditions
or even lack of safety regulations.

With Uber, it's 'safety and security'... what does that mean? Safety for who and from whom? Security from whom?
.......

'...Uber has repeatedly come under fire for its handling of allegations of sexual assault by its drivers against passengers.

Freedom of Information data obtained by The Sun last year showed that the Metropolitan Police investigated 32 drivers
for rape or sexual assault of a passenger between May 2015 and May 2016.

In August, Metropolitan Police Inspector Neil Billany wrote to TfL about his concern that the company was failing to
properly investigate allegations against its drivers.
He revealed the company had continued to employ a driver after he was accused of sexual assault.
According to Inspector Billany, the same driver went on to assault another female passenger before he was removed.

The letter said: "By not reporting to police promptly, Uber are allowing situations to develop that clearly affect the safety
and security of the public."...'

SOURCE:

Can we take it that the above doesn't involve female drivers sexually molesting passengers...?
It would be interesting to see how many female drivers there actually are in the UK that Uber employ!

Sadiq Khan's Uber ban 'could breach race laws as more than 90% of drivers are from minorities'
say campaigners as 20,000 of the firm's workers email the London mayor

'Sadiq Khan's Uber ban could breach race laws as more than 90 per cent of its drivers are from
ethnic minority backgrounds, campaigners have said.
It comes as 20,000 of the company's workers emailed the mayor of London to protest the decision
to strip Uber of its licence in the capital. 



More than 620,000 people have also signed a petition urging Transport for London to reverse its decision. 
TfL sensationally stripped the global taxi app of its licence to operate in London on Friday, claiming it was
not 'fit and proper'.

Iqbal Wahhab, former chairman of the Department of Work and Pensions Ethnic Minority Advisory Group,
said the move could breach TfL's legal duty [under the 2010 Equality Act] to make sure minority groups
were not discriminated against.
'I wonder what regard TfL gave to this legal duty as part of its decision making process,' he wrote in the IBT.

'There is a huge disparity in socioeconomic conditions of BME [black minority ethnic] citizens and their white
British counterparts. And for many of them, Uber was a way to earn a living, however modest, and come
off benefits.

'If they are able to win their appeal, Uber will have to rigorously clean up its conduct and be fit to serve London
better. But by having put fear of economic uncertainty into 40,000 households, City Hall could more rigorously
interrogate all its responsibilities.'

Women's charities have also warned the move could put passenger safety at risk. 
Nimco Ali, co-founder of the anti-FGM charity Daughters of Eve, said: 'The mayor talks about public safety while
knife crime is at a record high and women use Uber for safety. If the mayor thinks cancelling the licence is how
to make women feel safe, it shows how much he knows and cares about [violence against women] in London.' 

Others suggested it could lead to young people using unlicensed taxis again.
Dame Esther, who spent years spearheading safety campaigns, said: 'In the past, when young people wer
 desperate late at night and somebody stopped for them, many were tempted to jump in unlicensed cabs which
can be very dangerous. I'm extremely worried that may happen again.'  

TfL took the decision not to renew Uber's licence following concerns about the tech giant's failure to report serious
crimes by drivers and the firm's vetting process. 
Unions and Labour MPs have welcomed the decision. 



Wes Streeting, who chairs the all-party parliamentary group on taxis, described it as a 'courageous' move.
Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn said he believed TfL was doing the 'right thing' by refusing to renew the taxi firm's
permission to operate in the capital amid complaints it has failed to report crimes carried out by drivers.  
However some MPs have accused Mr Khan of relenting to union pressure.

He had been given £30,000 for his mayoral campaign by the union that represents black cab drivers.
GMB, which has almost 640,000 members and campaigned for years against Uber's presence in London, has
called the ban an 'historic victory'. 

However, Mr Khan – who as mayor is chairman of the Transport for London board but did not take part in the
licensing decision – said Uber had brought the ban on itself.

He told BBC World At One: 'If drivers are angry, as they will be, if users of Uber are angry, as they will be, their anger
should be turned towards Uber for knowing the rules and failing to play by them.' 

Uber has said it's willing to make a series of concessions as it seeks to reverse Friday's decision.  
Uber said TfL gave it no notice of the issues it wished the firm to address and have only held one meeting this year.
Mr Khan had refused requests to meet anyone from the company since becoming mayor 16 months ago, Uber
sources said.  

Tom Elvidge, Uber's general manager in London, told the Sunday Times: 'While we haven't been asked to make any
changes, we'd like to know what we can do. 'But that requires a dialogue we sadly haven't been able to have recently.'


London Black-Cab company protest in London.


Uber drivers protesting in Marseille.

Uber's concessions are likely to involve passenger safety and benefits for its drivers, possible limits on working hours
to improve road safety and holiday pay.  
The firm has said it will appeal the decision, during which time it will continue to operate as normal. 
The process could see the dispute go on for up to a year...'

SOURCE:

(By the way, Wallfire, have you looked at Uber YouTube videos...? even the biased algorithms can't keep the
bad ones out!)