London taxi demos continue as road access concerns remain unheard
Hundreds of London taxi drivers continued their weekly protest at Parliament Square on Wednesday, calling for the authorities to listen to industry concerns over road access in the capital. The drivers have congregated in Westminster for a least one day a week, since early Spring to voice their concerns.
The drivers hope to stop any future plans to ban taxis from driving on key parts of the capital’s road network. The message from the protesters is very much ‘where buses go, taxis go’. Both Transport for London and local authority officials have continue to acknowledge the demands of the organisers. A spokesperson from industry PR group, London Taxi PR, said: “Once again London Taxis were present at the Proactive ITA demonstration in Parliament Square on Wednesday, where they have been for the past 20 plus weeks. “Some 400-500 Taxi cabs and drivers were present, with a number choosing to lobby their respective MPs in Parliament whilst the demonstration is on for the 3 hour period. This is proving to be a popular and effective move, as sadly there are still some MPs who are of the opinion (wrongly) that this is an anti-Uber demonstration, rather than one of prevention of access to bus lanes to Taxis in some areas of London. The more this is being done then the more the message is slowly transcending through it appears. “Andy Nichols of the RMT union was also present, and it was seen later that BBC Radio 2 presenter Jeremy Vine had taken a podcast video of the demo whilst in the square. “Members of the public and tourists are still asking questions and being told exactly why the demo is happening, and again they are being informed and given leaflets by those present as to the exact reasons, with the vast majority in full support it has to be said.” The demo will continue indefinitely with the next one planned on Wednesday 1-4pm at Parliament Square.
Image: @The_LCDC (Twitter)
