Thanks for the plug in the July issue of upfront magazine Alan. I don’t really want to get into a debate with you or anyone else about wether a Hackney Carriage licence is a ‘business to be traded or not’ So I’ll settle for a small rant. Your Fishing analogy is a good one and the laws of competition, no doubt decided by faceless beaurocrats, are the reason for a lack of balance within the Taxi trade.

I hear & read phrases like: unmet demand, latent demand and market forces bandied about by people who have no idea about reality. They get all their information from statistics & surveys or the fact that they may have had to queue for more than 15 minutes for a Taxi. It’s a pity there isn’t a law that states, ‘issue a few more customers because Taxis are queueing for an hour or more’ then again in this crazy world some politician might try it. I think there should be another six windows at Taxi licensing as I have queued there for more than fifteen minutes and maybe several more testing stations. Then again the licensing fees would have to rise to pay for it all.

Everything has to be paid for,even I have to spend money sometimes. Competition Law is supposedly in place for the benefit of the consumer, keeping prices low and creating good service. You know, one company undercutting another,keeping prices down. I have not witnessed this phenomenon within the Hackney trade. Quite the opposite. As there are more Taxis there is less work or fish as per Alans analogy. Less work,less money ergo fare increases.

Market Forces, a phrase often thrown at me by Licensing officers, don’t appear to be forceful enough,apart from making several Taxi drivers bankrupt, which has no effect on the market unless you count the post Bankrupts who may work a few less hours as the credit card debt has been wiped. Latent Demand. I love this one. It was invented by those who know nothing. Basically it means: all those people who would take a Taxi but upon seeing the length of the queue for Taxis say “stuff that I’ll walk or steal a car” So because of the ‘Latent Demand’ we can safely issue more licences and there will be no loss of work. Get real please! In my time as a Taxi driver numbers of licences have more than doubled,one night club has burnt down, one has been knocked down,another has been turned into luxury flats four more have been closed down. For those new to the trade Parks,Surfers,Puzzles,Marlowes,Weavers and the world famous Jungle. Oh! nearly forgot the Sands Club and Sylvesters. When all these Clubs were open and people had some Money 90 Hacks and around 300 Private Hire did a very good job of taking all the punters from these places home. Now we have 205 hacks and over 800 Private Hire! Bring on the Latent demand, we need the Latent demand. Surely someone has a duty to inform the Latents there are Taxis on every corner which are latent friendly. Of course the people who spouted this Latent stuff and Market forces stuff have no interest in my babbling. Today you need to dress right, speak right, agree with everyone even if you don’t. It’s the way to get on. Well all I want to get on with is making a living. I have no interest in big business or becoming a millionaire. My words are not designed to coax or suck up to the highest bidder. I just want what I signed up for. I’ve been ever so gently told ” we can’t create work for you” (Licensing officer) I know that! But you don’t have to be a party to the loss of what work we have.

Competition probably has a place amongst Supermarkets,Banks,Private Hire operators and even Councils. Newcastle & North Tyneside are in effect in competition with Berwick. The Berwick thing is probably the best example of Market forces we have seen and is now biting North Tyneside in the backside. For anyone slow on the uptake It’s cheaper to get licenced by Berwick than Newcastle or North Tyneside or any Council in the world by all accounts. Well done Market Forces for creating a fiasco in Taxi Licensing.

I’m a Hack! Who’s my immediate competitor? The hack in front of me on the Rank. Should I put a sign up saying “Cheaper taxi here” The Truth is I don’t have any competition. I don’t compete with Private Hire, They are a different sector of a similar market they actually compete with each other,they think they compete with the Hackney trade but they don’t. Actually I suspect they know that and secretly want rid of us so everybody would be forced into their offices to pay them rent! My customers can find me on the street. No phone call, just put their hand out or come to the Rank, I have no expensive advertising, I don’t need to denigrate any other Taxi or Private Hire in order to get my business, I need no tout to shepherd people to my car. The customer has complete freedom to approach or hail a Hackney Carriage, jump in and say ‘take me home mate’ I compete with no one to do that. I Bought my Hackney Carriage Licence 25 years ago to put a roof over my head and to feed my family. Matter of opinion or not I could care less about one opinion or another. I fed and housed my family with this business. What else do we work for? I thus confirm my own view of the World and need no ‘Blanket of Comfort’ From you Alan. Mind you I will say I did like your Airport parking article. Though I couldn’t really care less about the parking fees, But I can understand when you are only getting £14.50 for that 30 mile round trip the parking fee could eat into your profit.

One last issue. I dropped off at the Scandinavian Ferry Terminal The other day and was approached by a couple wanting a Taxi. This Bloke appeared out of nowhere with a clipboard and tried to pull the couple away from my Taxi saying ” No! You don’t want that car, I’ll get you a proper Taxi! just come with me” Now please correct me if I’m wrong but Private land or not That is a bit off isn’t it? I mean he said it in a tone which was quite Defamatory, not that I get upset about such things but this man was making me out to be some sort of scumbag, a Taxi which was not to be trusted, now every time this couple see a black Taxi they’re going to remember this aren’t they? I must say I was a little hurt by this and couldn’t stop thinking about it. Of course I would not take it any further or post any video of the episode on this site, as I suppose the man was just doing his job and knew no better, that’s if he even worked there. I don’t know he could’ve just been some crazy person who liked to drag people away from Taxis but I did think it was a bit naughty and quite rude. Anyway I just let them go and drove away with my self esteem in tatters. Is there any compen for tattered self esteem? You know! like criminal injuries or something or Post Traumatic stress. Oh! I’m just being silly now, I’ll get over it, I’m a Taxi Driver I’ve been called lots of things before, water off a ducks back! and all that. Mind you there are people in the world who would make something out of a situation like that.