Opinion Donna Short, National Private Hire and Taxi Association 0161 280 2800
www.npha.org.uk donnadale.npha@
btconnect.com WE’LL SAY IT AGAIN: WE’RE PROUD OF OUR TRADE!
Why the mini-outburst at this particular moment? I could fill the entire paper with reasons, basically… As we continue to make preparations for the annual PHTM Expo in Milton Keynes – you do know about our little shindig, do you not? If not, this edition of PHTM gives you all the latest details – there has been much dis- cussion about the now-famous seminars that take place on the first day, Wednesday 12 June.
That discussion centres around the people who have very kindly said they would take part in these industry ‘jam sessions’. So of course you stop and think about who they are and what they’ve done and are continuing to do, for their own businesses and for the industry as a whole. You know: what they’re going to talk about, in which order, for how long and so on.
And it just rekindles that pride we’ve been talking about in this pub- lication for some time now: there are a helluva lot of people out there who have devoted the best part of their entire working lives to this industry, and I for one do not believe that enough good stuff has been said about them. So that is going to change.
Well, let’s just get real for a moment. Over the nearly three decades (!) we’ve been putting out this newspaper, did you know that attacks on drivers outnumber attacks on passengers by at least four to one? But you rarely see reports of those attacks on drivers make the national media – especially the broadcast TV news.
Don’t know if you know this, but I’m about to tell you: the Depart- ment for Transport recently asked me to compile a dossier of information on hate crime within the industry, for the purpose of presenting this to the Secretary of State for Transport in connection with documenting of such crime under the Policing and Crime Act 2017. I immediately said: “Have you got a room big enough to store this dossier?” – as we could literally fill such a room with all the reports we’ve seen over the years.
The term “hate crime” is all-encompassing, but basically it covers each and every attack against our drivers that has taken place over the last quarter-century… of which 69 resulted in the death of the driver. And unfortunately these attacks on drivers have not decreased in number; they seem to be even more fuelled by drink and drugs (or a combination of both) due largely to the relaxation in licensing hours.
But so very often it goes deeper than just substance abuse: the number of racist attacks against drivers is definitely on the increase, no question. There’s another one in this edition involving a fracas between a driver and his passenger because of the atroc- ities at the mosque in New Zealand last month. ??? What the hell does that have to do with a taxi journey from A to B in Bolton for God’s sake?
Let’s start with the drivers, shall we: Apart from teenage yobs and hardened drug-related criminals, I cannot think of a single group of people who has attracted bad press more than our drivers. Well, let’s face it: it makes for sensational headlines. You know: “Cabbie rapes third passenger in a year”. “Jail term for cabbie attack on old woman”. “Driver robs passenger’s house after taking them to holiday flight”.
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Plan. Always Ahead. The Plan Group Ltd is authorised and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) no. 307249 8 MAY 2019
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