Taxi Driver Online

Two years ago Mick Pollard publically said he would re-regulate the Gateshead Taxi trade, however, it would appear his failure to achieve his goal has now turned into desperation, his latest ploy was to dress Gateshead Cabbies in pantomime dress in order to try and convince councillors and public, that less cabs equates to a better service. You have to hand it to Pollard for being inventive but the article doesn't mention which end of the Pantomime horse he played?

EVENING CHRONICLE (Newcastle, UK)

June 27, 2006 Tuesday

LENGTH: 231 words

HEADLINE: Licence row drivers get grumpy

Angry Gateshead cabbies dressed as Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs to highlight what they call the pantomime between them and a council.

The drivers are angry that Gateshead Council continues to keep issuing Hackney licence plates saying there is not enough work to go around.

Dressed as the cartoon characters, cabbies handed out leaflets to workers at Gateshead Civic Centre to highlight their plight.

Gateshead Council has issued 100 new Hackney plates in the last year alone, each at £350, while Newcastle Council has not issued a single Hackney plate since 2004.

There are now 287 Hackney cab drivers in Gateshead but only 35 taxi rank spaces. In addition there are 800 private hire drivers.

Mick Pollard, chairman of the Gateshead Hackney Drivers' Association, said: "This was a public information exercise to make people realise what is happening to their taxi service.

"Drivers provide a public service but it is not being properly overseen by the council. If a driver has a limited amount of money coming in and that is reduced further, it is impossible for them to maintain their vehicle's standards. That potentially affects the safety of the public."

He added: "The costumes signify the pantomime that is the licensing department."

Peter Wright, for the council, said: "Government policy on this is clear: they do not expect councils to restrict the number of taxis plying for trade."
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I think his talents were best placed playing;

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IDFIMH

So he now seems to be campaigning on behalf of those he hates the most, the Private Hire Operators.

It is a sticky business when you try and butter both sides of the bread.

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A member of the Hire or Reward Industry

I take it the 100 new plates have been issued to 'qualified driver's' that are now 'qualified driver owners'. With the restrictive market now gone owners must be finding it hard not being able to secure the services of driver's to pay for their overheads.

Surely the hundred or so guys who got plates must feel they are better off working their own hours with their own vehicle.

Isn't it strange how they all claim to be businessmen but when they actually have to compete in a free market it's a different story. They immediately want the council to go back to being mummy and daddy again.

Oh please, please Mr. Councillor don't put any more plates on and please, please supply us with driver's so we can go back to our little world of pretending to be businessmen, we don't like it out here in the real world

What a shame I say to myself

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All animals are equal but some animals are more equal than others.
George Orwell, "Animal Farm"

the only shame Mr Thick Skull is that thier will be cars chasing the same amount of work, drivers will still be thier albeit at lower rates, its the same old same old.

got a drive yet?

No 187ums it will be the same drivers chasing the same work in their own vehicles. Driver's who invest in a vehicle will probably be earning more not having to pay an owner an extortionate rental. The driver's will now have the opportunity to work their own hours and control their own costs. The driver's who don't want their own vehicles will be working for the market rate not some inflated rental due to the shortage of shifts or drives.

This is called 'the market finding its own level'. The ones who can't compete will die off. The young blood will make it work because they will adapt to the circumstances of their environment.

I can see this is going to come as a shock 187ums but this is where it all started. Pricks like you wanting to live the illusion of being businessmen while begging the council not to make it a level playing field for all.

BTW Do you really think I would even consider paying some dickhead like you £300 for 72hours (6 nights) having to earn £900 (- £150 fuel) and give half of it away? That's £6.25 an hour less 25% tax, no holiday pay, sick-pay or pension scheme.

The sooner guys like you get in the real World and not some artificial bubble created by the council the better.

You a businessman 187ums save it for the wife, the people on holiday, and the people who don't know how the system works

What a dreamer

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All animals are equal but some animals are more equal than others.
George Orwell, "Animal Farm"

Of course, it's difficult to take Mick seriously when he had a saloon plate when he wanted one, had a free WAV plate when he wanted one, a free PH plate when he wanted one, then left the trade to set up another business, then used the trade as a part-time income when it suited him, then returned to the trade when he realised that cab driving was in his blood (ie when his other business went belly up), and could still choose between a PH or WAV plate, but now he wants to dictate what others do.

Do as Mick says, not as Mick does.

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

Yes, it's a 'plight' when it suits him, but at other times it's:

People call me upside down some even call me a failure without any knowledge of my current position. If having a nice 525 TDS next to the wifes new Micra on the drive, with my new bike in the garage, an extention to my house starting next year, 2 holidays paid for over the next 9 months and a new business set to make a nice tidy profit in the first year, is considered to be a failure then so be it.

Wouldn't mind a plight like that myself

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

lol its amazing how past comments have a habit of highlighting ones inconstancies? I suspect Mr Pollard is a man for all seasons. "Pantomime seasons" of course.

Regards

JD

well skull i may well be a [edited by admin], however you on the other hand are the biggest pussy i have ever known,

face the facts, you had two plates, you cashed in on them thinking i can make more as a driver, now you turn tail and bleat on how it affects your rights and how it should be a level playing field just because it would suit you better

like i said skull you are the biggest pussy i have ever known, one that has been fecked by everyone

Don't forget he also got the hump when the council wouldn't give him the free saloon plate they took back off someone.

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IDFIMH

or should he had gone as

sounds similar to another taxi baron cartel operating mogul i know

187ums Wrote:





I cashed in the plates like I would always cash in the plates. You bought into an illusion that I was not and never will be a part of. Why the feck would I want anything other than a level playing field, you don’t think I would buy a plate under any circumstances do you?

I leave that to sad little men like you who need to feel they are somebody and this is what keeps this little charade going even if it is all bull. You need the false trappings of that little plate just to go to bed at night believing your life is worth living, and the problem is you have to convince yourself of the same sh*** every day. The truth is you bought nothing but a treadmill and the little illusion of being a businessman. What you sell is not your services to the public but what you think people want to see, and to anyone that will listen to the little suburban nightmare of 187ums the company director of a taxi and plate.



No may about it

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All animals are equal but some animals are more equal than others.
George Orwell, "Animal Farm"

thats right baldy, and you are the pussy that gets used and abused