THANK YOU TO THOSE MPS
Now is the time for our industry to unify and show its strength. Now is the time for PH/HC drivers & chauffeurs to unite. Now is the time for the thousands of operators and the hundreds of thousands of drivers nationwide to join together to express one clear message: WE WILL NO LONGER BE IGNORED; WE WILL NO LONGER BE “THE FORGOTTEN & NEGLECTED INDUSTRY” PHTM encourages all members of our trade to write, phone and email your local MPs. MAYBE SOMEONE AT WESTMINSTER WILL THEN TAKE NOTICE!
DRIVERS BACK DUMFRIES MSP’S CALL FOR SCOTTISH GOVERNMENT SUPPORT
Taxi drivers are backing a politician’s campaign to get the Scottish Government to help them through the Covid crisis. The Daily Record reports that Dumfries- based MSP Colin Smyth is urging Holyrood to give cash payments to drivers and firms who have suffered a savage drop in takings since March. Driver, Brian Patterson, of BP Taxis in Kirkcudbright, said: “I have two cars but one is off the road right now because there is just not the amount of business to keep it going. “I am lucky here and have a couple of school runs during the week and I just try to look after my regulars and locals. I have no work at the weekend and finish early on Friday and Saturdays when in the past it was the busy time.”
“I fully support the campaign (by Mr Smyth) to back the taxis.” Mr Smyth, who is also Scottish Labour’s transport spokesman, has called for financial support for drivers and insisted: “Across Scotland, our taxi drivers are facing financial ruin with business decimated by Covid restrictions.
SOUTH LAKES MP CALLS FOR URGENT SUPPORT TO HELP THE EXCLUDED
On the floor of the House of Commons in early November, South Lakes MP Tim Farron urged the Government to provide immediate support for the excluded to prevent them from falling into ‘deep and desperate debt’. According to the Cumbria Crack, three million people have been excluded from the Government’s coronavirus financial support schemes, with many forced to live on no income since March. Speaking in Parliament, Mr Farron said: “I am deeply critical of the Govern- ment’s approach on this issue, not least on some of the economic areas, where there has been a blind spot when it comes to the three million people, we believe, who have been excluded from
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any kind of support whatsoever. “I think of people who have been self- employed for 18 months or less in my constituency. I think of people running small limited companies – taxi drivers, hairdressers – getting absolutely nothing for seven or eight months, or people who were on the payroll just a day or two too late earlier this spring. “Those people, are the backbone of our economy – the entrepreneurs we need to drive the recovery when, eventually, normality returns. They are left in deep and desperate debt, not sure if they can afford to put food on the table or pay to keep a roof over their heads. “The Government must act now to help those who have been excluded.”
“For many, their cab is their office, so they are not eligible for the coronavirus restrictions fund which pays out only to businesses that are registered for non- domestic rates. “However, they are viable businesses if they can get through the next few months. We have seen support for rail firms, ferry firms and bus companies, so may I ask the First Minister to urgently consider specific support for our forgotten taxi drivers before more of them are forced to join the ranks of Scotland’s unemployed? “Our taxi drivers were there when we needed them at the height of lockdown; they need their Government to be there for them now.” He added: “This pandemic has hit a lot of sectors very hard and our hard- working taxi drivers are facing financial ruin unless something is done for them. “My constituency is predominantly rural and a lot of people rely on their local taxi service to get around, from going to the shops to attending vital medical appointments. “However, as the pandemic drags on, many drivers are facing going out of business which would be a huge disaster, both for them and the people who rely on their services.
DECEMBER 2020
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