Imagine my surprise…
Of course it’s all about safety. Nothing at all to do with entitled, protectionist cab drivers that can’t compete with an innovative service. No, sir.
The safety question is an interesting one, in so far as it’s manifest horseshit to say that black cabs are safe, but Ubers are not. Nothing in life is perfectly safe. In the Spectator today, it’s pointed out that in 2015/16 32 accusations of sexual assault were made against Uber drivers. (This rose to 48 in the year to Feb 2017). Meanwhile around the same period 126 black cab drivers were charged with such a violent or sexual offense.
For what it’s worth, there are reckoned to be 23,000 back cabs in London today, vs 40,000 Ubers, the latter being used by 3.5M passengers in London.
This is without even considering the shady happenings that one may be exposed to in a traditional licensed London minicab.
It’s not as if there’s no longer the demand for black cabs. Ever rolled up at a London railway station and got in a cab without a significant queue? There’s clearly more demand than supply.
There’s self-evidently a large market for the service Uber provides, and yet the forces of protectionism and left-wing bullying hold significant sway with London’s Labour mayor.
Well, when London lefties’ journeys home at night incur extra cost, delay and uninvited eulogies for the UKIP manifesto, I hope they realise that this is all of their own making.
AJ
Al Jahom's Final Word 
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