Editorial Comment
Brave new world or same old...
same old?
We’re sure that you’re all fed up to the back teeth with elections, hypocrites, robbers, shysters, liars, cheats, fraudsters and probably politics in general, and like granny after Christmas dinner one more morsel and it will end up in the bathroom sink. However, we will attempt to spoon- feed some politics down your unwilling throats. Like it or not, unless Britain is hit by a 50ft tsunami or we’re invaded by Martians the election is the most important thing that has happened, and we will stick our neck out and say...will happen this year?
So how will the new government’s policies impact on the Taxi and Private Hire trade? Obviously, we haven’t got a hotline to Oxford educated David (call me Dave) Cameron or his new civil partner in crime Nick (only joking), but in true Doom Twin fashion reading the runes reminds us of a line of an old song: there may be trouble ahead, with a possible alteration to, there WILL be trouble ahead. Take the price of fuel - for a long time in 2009 it was like a
nervous batsman on 99 not out desperate to get his maiden test century, and once the £1.00 barrier was reached and breached the price has rocketed to £1.20 to £1.25 per litre (which is £5.50-£5-60 a gallon) and on its way to £2.00 per litre perhaps? So will we see an increase in fuel in the forthcoming emergency budget? Pope and catholic comes to mind. There is also a belief that the chancellor will raise VAT from 17.5% to 20%, a drastic move that will affect the price of everything from a vehicle to a circlip, and of course fuel (double whammy perhaps?)
In addition, there is the worst kept secret (who let the cat outa the bag?) is that government spending is to be slashed and all areas of the public sector will be asked to reduce costs. A number of cabbies and private hire drivers we spoke to recently have voiced their concerns about the coalition’s plans to scrap family tax credit, which many rely on to make ends meet, especially private hire drivers who, through no fault of their own, are forced to run on ridiculously low tariff rates set by their company(s) bosses, which just doesn’t
add up when overheads are factored in: including fuel, insurance, maintenance etc, it’s obvious these private hire drivers have another source of income, namely family tax credits. Moreover, It is anybody’s guess how these cuts will affect social service, school and hospital taxi runs that so many taxi and private hire drivers rely on, especially in these tough trading conditions, as more and more companies, private hire drivers and cabbies are falling foul in maintaining their monthly repayments, with some unsympathetic and
the vehicle back after a default on just one payment. Indeed, it’s a vicious circle, which in turn will affect [them] and the retail outlets, who are, by and large, evidently struggling as a result.
And what affect will it have on the requirement for drivers to undertake an NVQ course given that it is currently government funded, if the plug is pulled will drivers have to stump up the money to sit the course (rumoured to be in the region of £1,800) or will councils shelve, reverse or freeze the policy... grim times indeed folks.
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