Government must act now or risk ‘ruin for too many people’ says London taxi industry leader

A London taxi representative has urged the Government to support the industry now or risk ‘ruin for too many people’ should the trade be left to its own devices.

According to the Licensed Taxi Drivers’ Association (LTDA), the All-Party Parliamentary Group on Taxis held a meeting with junior transport minister Baroness Vere earlier this month, where MPs, including Wes Streeting and Daniel Zeichner, set out the challenges facing the trade and what the Government needs to do to help.

Steve McNamara, LTDA General Secretary, wrote in the TAXI NEWSPAPER: “The Baroness was again supportive but could not offer any solutions. This is not good enough and I told her as much.

“The Chancellor keeps saying he can’t save every business, and I get that, but he also said he will intervene where there are ‘viable’ businesses that are simply struggling because of reduced demand as a result of the pandemic. That is the taxi trade down to a tee. We need more support than is currently on offer to get through the next few months and then we can pick up where we left off.

“Leaving us to our own devices and picking up the pieces in the Spring or whenever we start to get back to some kind of normality, would mean ruin for too many people.”

In Northern Ireland, all taxi drivers are to be handed a £1,500 grant on top of any Self-Employed Income Support Scheme (SEISS) funding that they may receive to help them pay the costs associated with running a taxi.

In Liverpool and surrounding areas a fund has been created by local authorities to help cab drivers through the pandemic.