Taxi Driver Online

According to the latest DfT stats Peterborough has 105 hackneys and 1,194 PH.

And one or two soon to be rich CCTV installers.

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IDFIMH

to get a more accurate figure add in huntingdonshire licensed vehicles as approcx 2/3rds of them also work in peterborough

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

Plans for mandatory CCTV in Peterborough taxis rejected following council vote

Councillors in Peterborough have rejected proposals that would have seen CCTV made mandatory in the city’s taxis.

In a resounding 37 to 8 vote (with nine abstentions) councillors voted to reject plans would have required CCTV cameras to be installed in all hackney carriage and private hire vehicles registered with Peterborough City Council.

Under proposals, cameras would have been required to remain on at all times drivers were either taking paid fairs or waiting at a rank and must cover both the driver and the passenger(s)

The cost of such equipment would have been covered by the drivers themselves.

The resolution was passed by the city’s licencing committee in September but will now not come into force after being rejected by full council.

Taxi drivers in the city have spoken out en-masse against the proposals raising concerns about costs and the need for the systems in the first place owing to low crime stats.

Councillors also debated the potential effectiveness of the plans given concerns that drivers would simply choose to become licenced in neighbouring authorities such as Rutland, South Holland and South Kesteven, where CCTV rules would not apply.

A summary of councillors who spoke against the proposals includes:

Cllr Shabina Qayyum- “I have conducted my own audit from taxi driver medicals that I have carried out over the past year. From the 335 I have carried out of which 280 have gone to other authorities; the majority of them citing disagreement with the CCTV policy proposals, including reasons such as the cost of living crisis, a lack of flexibility in the proposals and I resonate with those thoughts.

“It would be a disadvantage to our divers in the city that they’ll go to other authorities and be able to operate here in the city anyway without CCTV, it’s much better to have consistency across the board.”

Cllr Mohammed Jamil- “We would be introducing a two-tier system. We are telling our drivers to do one thing yet you can go and get your plate in Rutland, Huntingdon or even as far away as Wolverhampton and come and work in the city and the rules aren’t as stringent on you. That is not fair.

Cllr Mohammed Farooq- “This would have additional costs for our council to run, which it can ill afford when we are struggling other statutory services. This would also impact on jobs and growth and prevent entrepreneurial opportunities as often people who start self-employed driving taxis go on to bigger businesses creating value for our city and there is not enough data on crime to warrant this.”

Cllr Imtiaz Ali- “If we were to implement this scheme in Peterborough, drivers would simply go elsewhere and register and that would lead to a massive hit to the revenues of the city council. This council is already struggling with a big blackhole and we would be further exacerbating that by forcing drivers away from us. We would be punishing the drivers we should be serving.

Cllr John Howard- “The passenger safety aspect of the policy is the part I like but I dislike the lack of a level playing field. This is a national government issue to make this mandatory across the country, should they wish to, council’s individually should not be weighted down by this decision. I don’t know how that paper has got to this point considering there is still financial implications at a time when money is so tight.”

Cllr Angus Ellis- “I would like to commend the great service we have in Peterborough and one of the most affordable. If we brought CCTV in, it would put a huge financial strain on many taxi drivers, many of whom struggle to keep their businesses going. If this was passed, they would have to pass on the cost by putting fares up.”

A smaller number of councillors spoke against the motion, including Cllr Christian Hogg as well as Cllrs Chris Wiggin and Peter Hiller- both members of the licencing committee.

Cllr Hogg- “The systems cost about £600, which is £50 a month over a year and £10 over five years. This is not a king’s ransom we are asking taxi drivers to pay. It is as much for their protection as members of the public. In Brighton, that systems has been in place for seven or eight years and I didn’t find a single taxi driver with a bad thing to say about it.

“We should not be dictating policy with a gun to our head by the taxi trade.”

Cllr Hiller- “The Department for Transport published statutory guidance in July 2020 which provides a strong focus to protect users of taxis. The guidance, which the council has an obligation to have regard to clearly demonstrates that authorities are expected to introduce mandatory CCTV unless there is a compelling local reason not to. There is no compelling local reason.”

The council did vote to lobby central government to bring forward taxi licence legislation changes to restrict cross-border taxi licensing.

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IDFIMH

(Sussex has posted a link to an article subsequent to this, so there's probably not much here that hasn't been said elsewhere

But I put this in my drafts last night, and then got stuck down a rabbit hole, and never got round to posting it. But it's maybe worth bumping this thread, because certainly in the earlier press reports this week, the councillor's role on the licensing commitee and the CCTV history just wasn't mentioned - it was portrayed more as simply an idea by a fairly random councillor )

And think this is one of those threads I meant to catch up on at the time, but never got round to it - I certainly have zero recollection of it; although maybe it's old age creeping up, and not forgetting that my old mum died of dementia (there's an off-colour joke in there ).

Anyway, it's obviously related to the stuff in the recent thread about the young female councillor who's left the Labour group on the council because of its stance on CCTV. Although the way it's been portrayed recently, you don't get the impression that the licensing committee actually voted for CCTV last year, and that it was then knocked back by the full council

And you won't pick up either that the young female councillor was - and perhaps still is - a member of the licensing committee

Although it's not clear whether or not she was a member when it voted for the CCTV

And, of course, one huge argument against compulsory CCTV - the cross-border thing - clearly isn't mentioned in the thousands of tweets and comments here, there and everywhere made by people telling the whole world what a great idea Daisy had, and how there cannot possibly be any downsides, unless of course objectors have something to hide

Anyway, this is on the GB News website, and they apparently got an exclusive interview with her

It's mostly about the political angle, though, and certainly very little about the detailed arguments about it all, but still quite interesting


Teenage councillor speaks out after Labour resignation over racism smear and ‘bullying’ campaign

https://www.gbnews.com/news/teenage-cou ... g-campaign

One of Britain’s youngest councillors, who dramatically resigned from the Labour Party this week amid racism and bullying allegations, has spoken out for the first time about her ordeal.

Daisy Blakemore-Creedon, 19, quit the Labour group on Peterborough City Council after facing racist abuse for backing CCTV in taxis.

The teenage politician told GB News that she faced significant blowback after campaigning for the measure for the city’s licensed mini cabs, many of which are operated by Pakistani men.

Speaking exclusively to this broadcaster, Blakemore-Creedon said that fellow councillors slandered her family as “targeting Asian labour councillors”.

Blakemore-Creedon faced abuse after she campaigned for the CCTV measure, which was voted down in December after over a year of campaigning and lobbying.

GB News understands that some licensing officers in Peterborough shared support for political efforts to give greater oversight and surveillance of the minicabs.

But this broadcaster can reveal that when the proposed motion was approved to be voted on, deputy leader of the council, Mohammed Jamil, wrote to a group of Labour politicians: “Licensing Committee- what have you done tonight.”

He added: “We are now going to lose our councillors in Central, North and Park wards at the next election. All three wards are taxi driver heavy.”

The teenage politician told GB News: “That comment really shocked me. We proposed an important measure for public safety, but our deputy leader seemed only concerned about losing votes from taxi drivers.”

Daisy said that she also faced accusations of racism for backing the probe.

In her resignation statement posted on X, she said: “These accusations [of racism] are completely unfounded and deeply hurtful.”

“I have also raised a formal complaint regarding these matters, which has now been delayed twice, reportedly due to concerns about the political impact on the party, rather than a focus on justice or resolution.”

GB News has seen correspondence from the Labour group whip Asim Mahmood who told Blakemore-Creedon that her complaint about being targeted with malicious accusations of racism was delayed for political reasons.

GB News will host Blakemore-Creedon on Saturday Morning Live from 10am.

Mahmood told the young councillor that he would delay until after the recent local elections, when Anna Smith was up for election as the mayor of Cambridgeshire & Peterborough.

Mahmood said: “I have decided that I will issue my decision after Anna’s election due to the potential negative impact it may have.”

He added: “Apologies I know its not ideal, but we must also protect the party’s position politically.”

Anna Smith lost the mayoral election to Conservative Paul Bristow.

Daisy told GB News that the lengthy delay to her complaint meant that her reputation was being attacked without the party authorities coming to her defence amid a smear campaign.

“It was horrendous,” she said, “myself and my family were falsely accused of racism and the party would rather win over some votes rather than do the right thing and deal with this issue.”

Daisy, who has a Jewish mother, was subjected to racist attacks because of her stance on minicab surveillance.

In one case, a major Labour supporter in Peterborough accused her of being “on the payroll” of Benjamin Netanyahu.

Tariq Mahmood, who wrote the comment on a Facebook post seen by GB News, made the antisemitic slur about control from the Israeli PM despite Blakemore-Creedon never commenting on Israeli affairs.

“My commitment is to the people of Peterborough, and that remains my focus. I was deeply hurt by the racist slur directed at me.

“What concerns me most is the delay in addressing this issue, which suggests a prioritisation of political image over principle. It’s vital that all parties respond swiftly and fairly to any form of discrimination.”

GB News can reveal that the man behind the comment, Tariq Mahmood, is a convicted vote rigger.

Blakemore-Creedon said: “A public safety discussion was unfortunately used as a vehicle for an anti-Semitic remark targeting my Jewish heritage. This was extremely distressing. I brought the matter to the attention of the Labour group because I believe in accountability and fairness, but I have yet to see any meaningful action taken.”

She continued: “I’m so disappointed with all this because my morals have always been Labour. Labour is in my blood. My grandfather was a major supporter. But my entire family has been left really disappointed as well. We hoped for better from a movement we believed in.”

GB News can also reveal that senior Labour Party figures, including the city’s MP Andrew Pakes, attended a celebration bash put on by a taxi lobbying group after the motion was voted down.

The Peterborough Private Hire Association Taxi Association hosted Labour councillors and Pakes in January for a meal paid for by some of the city’s taxi firms.

One Labour councillor, Shabina Qayyum, commented on a social media post about the celebratory meal: “Thank you so much for your hospitality and generosity. I really enjoyed our conversations and you are all such a lovely bunch.”

Andrew Pakes MP wrote: “Always a pleasure to help.”

GB News contacted Asim Mahmood and Tariq Mahmood for comment.

The Labour Party and Peterborough council leader Dennis Jones were contacted for comment.

It's actually just a PHA, and nothing to suggest it also covers HCs

And, of course, although the initial press reports suggested the CCTV debate was just about 'minicabs', it was actually about both codes, surprise, surprise