Taxi Driver Online

Claim that up to 30 Dundee taxi drivers have already quit ahead of fresh coronavirus restrictions set to ‘devastate’ trade

https://www.thecourier.co.uk/fp/news/lo ... ate-trade/


Taxi drivers Ronnie Cargill and Chris Elder at the Meadowside taxi rank (Image: Mhairi Edwards/DC Thomson)

As many as 30 Dundee taxi drivers could have already quit the business as coronavirus restrictions decimate trade, it has been claimed.

Taxi driver union representative Chris Elder said business has become so sparse drivers are not renewing their registrations and instead, taking alternatives jobs or moving on to Universal Credit in order to survive.

The Unite the Union taxi branch secretary said fresh restrictions announced on Tuesday, including a 10pm curfew for pubs and restaurants and a ban on visiting people in each other’s homes, will make it even harder for taxis and private hires to turn a profit.

He said: “The new restrictions will have a devastating effect on trade.

“There are already cars that are sitting there because drivers can’t get out and make a living.

“I know there are quite a few guys that didn’t renew. They want to try and get other jobs or universal credit. I would say 20 to 30 vehicles have been lost already.”

Mr Elder has previously called for greater financial support from local and national politicians to help drivers adapt.

He said the 10pm curfew could, in effect, mean the end of a day and night shift for city drivers and the rules on household visits would disrupt another crucial source of income.

“The majority of cars will only do a day shift and that will make things even worse.

“We were getting fares going from one house to another but that is now out as well. Drivers will be sitting in ranks waiting on fares. That will affect us, big time.”

He said on Wednesday morning he had personally earned half of what he would have expected prior to the pandemic.

“I have been on since 8 o’clock in the morning and I have had three fares. I have around £17 on the meter.”

Prime minister Boris Johnson said he expected the hospitality restrictions to last at least six months, though first minister Nicola Sturgeon later said that may not be the case when addressing the Scottish Parliament.

Mr Elder said government support for the self-employed must continue for as long as restrictions continue to affect trade.

He said he had received two payments designed to support self-employed workers.

“This has to continue. They should look after taxi drivers and their families. The alternative is families turning to foodbanks.”

The second stage of the UK government’s Self Employment Income Support Scheme opened for applications in mid-august.

A UK government spokesman said more than 2.7 million people have benefitted from the scheme so far, receiving £7.8 billion.


Image: Mhairi Edwards/DC Thomson

30 drivers quitting doesn't seem that much to me, considering there are 1,000+ drivers in Dundee.

But note he just says they're not renewing their licences - so others may have left the trade, at least temporarily, but their licences are still valid.

But I'd guess there are proportionately a lot more than 30 drivers in St Andrews who haven't come back, but whether that's a temporary thing or not I'm not sure, and it's all still uncharted territory, particularly with all the new restrictions announced this week.

So the latest is that students have been completely banned from pubs, and must stay inside, and it's claimed they won't even be allowed home for Christmas. It's claimed a lot of them have already given up their courses and accomodation so they can go home. For good

Just a few weeks since Nicola Sturgeon and her chief public health 'expert' adviser (apparently she was on BBC Question Time last night) were saying Scotland could achieve zero-Covid in weeks, now we're almost back to full lockdown.

Well done Nicola

Didn't you know she's like the pope infallible

Seriously though there will need to be a big shakeout because I don't think this trade is viable for the numbers that are licensed. Maybe 40 to 60 percent of pre covid numbers.

I think in reality there is a lot of belief that this is only temporary. One local plate baron has just been out and bought 5 new cars to plate and is seriously expecting to attract dozens of drivers on 40/60!

As they say a fool and his money

Giving up self employment and going onto benefits or switching to parcel or takeaway delivery might well be the best option for many

I think though one idea the government hasn't come up with would be to allow those who have paid enough NI to retire early and go onto state pension. That would make room for younger people to take up the viable jobs that are left

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lack of modern legislation is the iceberg sinking the titanic of the transport sector

I'm in.
However, because the state retirement age is being increased I doubt that this would be seen as a viable option.

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Grandad,

This was suggested many years ago by a Tory government(reduce the retirement age)to enable the young to find employment, but it never happened.
What has happened the retirement age has increased under the latest (Tory and Liberal governments)reducing employment opportunities of the young people once again.

Professor of Global Public Health at Edinburgh University, and Sturgeon's expert adviser. Obviously totally unbiased and impartial:

https://twitter.com/devisridhar/status/ ... 6876717056

assuming the link showed me the same tweet nothing wrong with that it's good satire!

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lack of modern legislation is the iceberg sinking the titanic of the transport sector

I suppose that's a plausible view, particularly if viewed from outside Scotland.

But if you look at the responses to the tweet, neither those in support nor those against seem to have taken it as satire.

And can you imagine the likes of Chris Whitty saying something like that, and the reaction?

But she's got a reputation for thinly-veiled Scottish nationalist politics, thus several anti-Boris comments, and this stuff about the border:



And a few weeks ago she was babbling on about ZeroCovid - so even ignoring her politics, here expertise must be in question as well.

And even though Dominic Cummings' version of what he did didn't seem particularly compelling , in Scotland in particular surely the case of Nicola Sturgeon's medical adviser Catherine Calderwood was more relevant, because:

- it happened very early in lockdown;

- she was just on a weekend jolly to her Fife holiday home. At least twice.

- she was out walking about with her kids - unlike Cummings, none of them had Covid

ok case proven she's a bigot.

As are half the population of Scotland when it comes to the English!

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lack of modern legislation is the iceberg sinking the titanic of the transport sector

Devi Sridhar. Good Scottish name.

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Former taxi driver

Born and raised in Miami, Florida, actually

Spent a few years at Oxford University, and has only been in Scotland since 2014, as far as I can tell.

Not to mention Margaret Ferrier

See that's why I was a bit more tolerant to Mr Cummings when he did what he did, as I'm certain given the same circumstances I would have done the same.

But then she is a politician and I'm a real person.

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IDFIMH

Not often I read anything in the British Medical Journal, but since yesterday was the first day up here when all restrictions have been lifted, maybe worth a quick look at this article by Nicola's adviser and global health expert Devi Sridhar (in the graphic earlier in the thread).

It's quite short, but demonstrates why I don't think it's a good idea to read anything in the British Medical Journal. Note that this was published in July 2020, thus just four months after the start of the first lockdown

And note in particular the references to zero-covid (this was almost two years ago ) and the bigging up of Nicola Sturgeon. Reads more like political spin and propoganda that might have been produced by one of Sturgeon's comms/PR flunkies.


Why Scotland’s slow and steady approach to covid-19 is working

https://www.bmj.com/content/370/bmj.m2669

Deaths and new infections from covid-19 are falling to low levels in Scotland. Devi Sridhar and Adriel Chen look at how the country is on course to eliminate the virus

In April 2020, the Scottish government published a framework for decision making on covid-19 which notably included that there would be no acceptable number of covid-19 cases, and that no one would be intentionally exposed to this virus. This framework set the objective clearly: to drive the number of cases as close to zero as possible. From that objective a strategy and game plan could be worked out.

In the last two weeks of June, Scotland had a decreasing number of cases, hospitalisations, and deaths from covid-19, leading to a continued push for a “zero covid” Scotland. In addition, the positivity rate—the number of people testing positive out of the total number of people tested—has fallen to under 0.5% on most days. As Scotland has a land border with England and is part of a global world, this does not mean elimination with no cases ever. It does, however, mean working towards ending community transmission and local cases, and moving towards a future where the main risk of covid-19 is from imported cases. These need to be quickly identified, traced, and all individuals quarantined. An elimination strategy is optimal for public health, the economy, and society, as it allows maximum normality as lockdown eases, and avoids the halfway house that results from a high level of virus transmission and circulation.

Scotland used the time in lockdown, which began on 23 March, to build up a “test, trace, isolate, support” system, referred to as “Test and Protect.” This helped suppress the virus. Lockdown measures have been eased cautiously and in a stepwise fashion. This strategy involves testing symptomatic people, tracing contacts, isolating those who are carrying or have been exposed to the virus, and providing them with necessary support to meet their needs. Early on, Health Protection Scotland decided not to rely on an app for contact tracing, but to build up existing capacity within NHS public health boards.

Scotland also took a more cautious route out of lockdown, using phases that usually started two or three weeks after the rest of the UK. When the message in England switched to “stay alert” on 10 May, Scotland continued with the “stay at home” message. Even until 3 July, households were encouraged not to travel more than five miles from their home for leisure. Households are also encouraged to meet and interact with others outdoors, which is in line with increasing evidence on the lower risk of transmission outdoors. Clear messaging seems to be an important component of adherence to rules, given that the majority of people want to follow public health guidance but need to have clear instructions on what is and is not permissible.

A third component of Scotland’s approach is a high degree of trust in government and in the leadership of the first minister Nicola Sturgeon to manage covid-19 effectively, as a recent Edinburgh University study noted. In late March, the Scottish government established its own scientific advisory group to coordinate with the Scientific Advisory Group for Emergencies and provide advice tailored for Scotland. From its inception, transparency was encouraged and the Scottish government website published the membership of the group, as well as minutes and eventually background papers. Sturgeon and other key senior officials held daily briefings outlining the state of the pandemic in Scotland, as well as taking questions from members of the press, leading to intense scrutiny and debate on the measures being taken.

While Scotland is heading towards a possible zero covid-19 future, major challenges lie ahead. Firstly, Test and Protect must be strengthened to ensure it is catching all cases in the country and doesn’t become overwhelmed, especially when heading into winter when many of the symptoms of colds, respiratory infections, and influenza can overlap. Winter brings more people into indoor settings and early evidence indicates that virus transmission is more effective indoors.

Secondly, given the global pandemic has yet to peak, there is an ongoing risk of cases being imported to Scotland from the rest of the world. Increasing vigilance would require land borders, marine ports, and airports to be monitored.

Finally, citizens around the world will start to tire of the ever changing public health measures and messaging. This runs the risk of decreasing compliance over time and a reciprocal increase in new infections and local transmission. Therefore, there remains a small window of time to push infections to a negligible level, establish robust and real time monitoring, reopen schools full time, lift shielding for the vulnerable, reintroduce socialising, and get the economy up and running again. Scotland has taken a slow and steady path, but one that will hopefully lead to a more sustainable future.

Footnotes

Competing interests: DS serves on the Scottish government’s covid-19 advisory group and on the Royal Society DELVE initiative. Both are unpaid positions. AC has no competing interests.