Issue 178 April 2010 INSIDE - WordPress.com · 2010. 4. 2. · Steering Steering linkages Steering mechanism Power steering Stub axles, king pin assemblies and wheel bearings Tyres

The independent voice of the London Cab Driver’s Club Issue 178 April 2010

Protect your badge and bill with LCDC legal cover contact The LCDC for details - 0207 394 5553

“You’ve got nothing to lose except your bill”

NEWS

INSIDE

NEWS

PAGE 6

The Cannonat theairport

NEWS

PAGE 11

John Masoncomes tothe rescue

Yellowfeverbreaks out!

PAGE 12

PAGE 3

NEWS

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2 Issue 178 - April 2010

After last months edition of theBadge, the article regardingIdentification discs in taxis seemsto have hit a raw nerve with someof our yellow badge colleagues.

We have received at the Office anumber of threatening telephone calls,mostly bringing in to question myparentage. So much so, I have now left acopy of my birth certificate with Abbi forclarification on this matter.!

The fact that this has caused such con-troversy, just goes to highlight what amassive problem this has become. Oneof the biggest factors in convincing thePCO of the problem was the upsurge inapplications to do the knowledge in sub-urban areas compared to the number ofapplicants for Central London.

However the P.C.O are yet to finalisethe design, but make no mistake, this willbe Introduced in the very near future.

L.C.D.C. MARSHALLED RANKS.I am very pleased to say that the mar-

shal scheme which we are running atNobu seems to be a great successeswith drivers and the public alike. TheClub have been funded by the Club, andI would like to thank all the drivers whohave contributed into the collection boxesat various trade watering holes, and Iwould also like to thank the establish-ments for allowing this to happen.However for this scheme to continue inthe long term we need additional fundingand I am at present exploring various

avenues for this to happen. In the lastedition of the Cab Trade news, PeterRose wrote that he was " more than a little uncomfortable with the idea ofmarshals being used to act as a visibledeterrent ...and have no powers to moveerrant mini cabs of the rank if theychoose to park there ".This was exactly the reason WHY THE LCDC CHOSE TO USE

LICENSED AND INSURED SECURITYMARSHALS WHEN THE SCHEME ATNOBU WAS INTRODUCED. It is relevant to point out that the mar-shals at Nobu have not experienced anyproblems removing minicabs from theNobu rank!

FREEZE ON TAXI LICENCES ?Since becoming Chairman of the

LCDC I firmly believe that the onlyway forward for the Trade is to act asa United Trade, however in lastmonths edition of TAXI newspaper Inoted that Bob Oddy suggested that apossible restriction on cab licencesshould be introduced. My own per-sonal view is that it is not US thatneed to be restricted in numbers, it isthe number of Licences being issuedto Private Hire drivers who currentlyout number us some 3 to 1. Thisfreeze on P.H drivers alongside thecontrol of yellow badge drivers work-ing in Central London would free up alot of work which I do believe is right-fully ours.

10, 12, 15 YEARS ?At the time of going to press I have

just attended another meeting regardingthe new Mayors Air Quality Strategy. Asof yet there is no decision made regard-ing any age limits being put on our taxis.The trade has been asked wether wewould contribute any initiatives that wouldhelp the Mayor reach his emission tar-gets set out by the E.U.

Suggestions put forward are, smarterdriving training to improveemissions,restrictions on Idling, additionaltaxi ranks, exemptions to stopping andwaiting, as well as the promotion of lowemission taxis.

However the most obvious solution tome,is for the Mayor to get to grips withthe horrendous state of London's roadswith a record 370,000 sets of roadwork'scurrently taken place in the Capital, thisalone would have more effect in solvingthe problem rather than some of theschemes being put forward by the Greenlobby !

Yellow fever breaks out!Issue 178 - April 2010 3

Published by The London Cab Driver’s Club Ltd.

Unit A 303.2, Tower Bridge Business ComplexTower Point, 100 Clements RoadSouthwark, London SE16 4DG

Telephone: 020 7232 0676

E-mail for membership enquires:E-mail: [email protected]: www.the-badge.org

Editor: Grant Davis

The Badge is distributed free to the LicencedLondon Cab Trade.

For advertising enquires please contact the officeon

020 7394 5553 or E-mail: [email protected]

All advertising in The Badge is accepted underour terms and conditions. These are available

at the LCDC office.

Before entering into any commitment, financial or otherwise, always remember to seek

professional advice.

The views expressed in this publication are notnecessarily those fo the Editor or of the

Management Committee of the London Cab Driver’s Club.

Contributions for publication are welcomed and should be sent to the Editor at the

above address.

The London Cab Driver’s Club Ltd.

After Tony Mc's recent article (PCO,Partitioned PH Vehicles) the PCOhave taken the decision withdrawthe vehicle inspection manual(version 4) at the centre of thecontroversy.The manual is theofficial guide used to qualify vehi-cles for licence. In the said manualthere are amendments regardingpartitions for PH vehicles.

PH are being allowed to encroach closer

and closer to the clear deviding line the1998 PH (London) act was written to cre-ate. There are questions that need to beanswered as to why the PCO feel it neces-sary as the licensing authority to help PHvehicles circumnavigate the original legisla-tion; surely this is the job of the legislators todecide.

The club are currently making enquiries atthe highest level, and a full update will fol-low A.S.A.P.

Grant Davis.

Taxi Re-Test Fees Explained

One step closer?

HELEN CHAPMAN

As you are probably aware, fromApril 2010 TfL will be implement-ing some changes to taxi licencefees. We are aware that some ofthese changes have caused con-cern to the trade and I hope thisarticle will go some way toaddressing these.

Each year, TfL reviews the licencefees which are payable by taxi and pri-vate hire drivers, owners and operators.Regardless of any rumours you mayhear to the contrary, all income raisedthrough licence fees is spent exclusive-ly on delivering taxi and private hireservices and not a single penny isspent on any other TfL or Mayoral initia-tive.

Whilst we would normally haveincreased a number of taxi licensingfees, such as the 3 year driver licencefee, this year we decided not to imple-ment an increase and instead havelooked to make efficiency savings byimproving back office processes.Unfortunately many of our processesare time consuming, labour intensiveand manually delivered and we areworking hard to make improvements inthese areas and will ensure we pass onany savings identified to you, thelicense payer.

However, one of the key changes tofees we did implement this year were toyour taxi inspection fees.

In February the TfL Board approvedthe following licence fee changes withregards to taxi inspections to come intoeffect from April 2010:

A reduction of £10 in the annuallicensing fee from £111 to £101;

A freeze in the grant of licence fee which remains at £53;

The introduction of a £50 re-testfee for all taxi's which fail the first time inspection.

There are two simple reasons why weare introducing the re-test fee. Firstly,we feel it is unfair that vehicle ownerswho make the effort to pass their annu-al inspections first time should sub-sidise those that don't. As the systemcurrently works, the total cost for allvehicle inspections is covered by a sin-gle fee. The second reason is that thefirst time pass rate remains stubbornlylow, fluctuating between 37% and 40%over a twelve month period. It is our jobto make sure we use all the mecha-nisms available to us to try to increasethis rate and provide the travelling pub-lic with as much reassurance as possi-ble that they are using a safe, wellmaintained taxi.

The effect of the £10 reduction in theannual licensing fee is expected to bal-ance out the additional monies receivedfrom the re-tests. However, if thisproves not to be the case any surpluswill be used to further reduce the feesnext year. SGS, our service providerthat carries out the inspections, will notfinancially benefit from these changesso there is no incentive for them to failyour vehicles.

The trade have expressed a view thatthe introduction of a re-test fee will notimprove the first time pass rate withmany people continuing to use the firsttime inspection as an opportunity togain a "job sheet".

As a result of the feedback we havereceived, we have decided to phase the

implementation of the re-test fees tohelp us to closely monitor the effectsthat it has on the trade.

Therefore, with effect from 6 April,taxis that fail inspections for one ormore of the following conditions (takenfrom the vehicle inspection manual) willbe subject to the £50 re-test fee:

For the short term, all other reasonsfor failure will remain unchargeableconditions of a re-test, however we willlook to phase in these additional rea-sons throughout 2010.

We will publish updates to the list ofchargeable items on our website -www.tfl.gov.uk/tph along with informa-tion held at the SGS vehicle inspectioncentres.

I hope this approach will demonstrateour willingness to listen to your con-cerns and that you will try and supportus in implementing these changes.

Category Sub-categoryBrakes Service brake performance

Performance of parking brakeCondition of mechanical brake componentsCondition of brake pipes and hosesCondition of servos, exhausters and hydraulic componentsAnti-lock braking system (ABS)

Steering Steering linkagesSteering mechanismPower steeringStub axles, king pin assemblies and wheel bearings

Tyres / Wheels Rear hub bearingsUnderbody Condition of chassis

Underpanels, sills and body mountingsFuel tank and pipelinesFront suspensionRear suspension


This vehicle was seen today in the Finchley Rd, as youcan see it belongs to airportdirect.com, it is complete

with partition and is a PCO registered vehicle!The LCDC are currently making enquiries about the legality of this vehicle under the current legislation

and will update you shortly.

Issue 178 - April 2010 5

JOHN GRIFFIN

These are hard times for boththe hackney carriage and pri-vate hire trades. There seems tobe some evidence that the blacktaxi trade has been hit hardest.Some private hire proprietorswill rejoice in this fact but theyshould consider how this mayaffect them.The taxi trade often accuses the pri-

vate hire industry of a hidden agendawhereby they are secretly planning tobe able to ply for hire. Nothing couldbe further from the truth, if private hiredrivers could ply for hire all the com-panies would have to close as theywould have no drivers.

The truth is that London needsa vibrant taxi industry with both hack-ney carriage and private hire compet-ing to offer superior services. On theavailable evidence it is clear that theblack taxi drivers are beginning to suf-fer from years of neglecting the quali-ty of service they are offering. A visitto any mainline station rank will showa number of drivers inappropriatelydressed in trainers and shorts who sitin their cabs while the passengerswrestle their suitcases into the rearpassenger area.The private hire industry is now pay-

ing drivers to take customer servicecourses take topographical tests andhow to make maximum use of thenew I.T. facilities that are installed intheir vehicles. Satallite navigation sys-

tems are now more reliable andsophisticated even taking on boardtraffic conditions and road works. TheLondon taxi driver at best knows 10%of all the streets in London while thesat nav reaches 99%. These areissues that the taxi trade needs totake onboard if they are to fight fortheir share of the market.Will passengers continue to stand on

street corners waiting for an availabletaxi or will they press a button mobilethat will send them the details of thedriver who is on his way to pick themup?London needs a vibrant black taxi

trade offering the quality of servicewhich meets the demands of the 21stcentury. They urgently need toaddress this problem or they will dis-

appear under a barrage of competi-tion from the private hire industry. Thismust not be allowed to happen. For adriver who takes two years to com-plete his knowledge, now is the timeto take one week to learn the art ofcustomer service.The London black taxi enjoys a lot of

emotional support from the public.Over the years they have earned thissupport, but so did Woolworths whodied because they failed to changewith the times.This must not happen to the London

hackney carriage and the time to startthe fightback is now. - John Griffin.

Reproduced bby kkind ppermission from MMr. JJohn GGriffin.

Addison Leevoices supportfor taxi trade

London cabbie standsfor parliament

Gary Rogers London taxi driveris standing as a perspective par-liamentary candidate for theEnglish Democrats in DartfordKent; Gary has held his cablicence for 19 yrs. One of the rea-son's why I am standing is theneed to return to common sense,honesty and integrity in our gov-ernment.

We need massive change in our politi-cians, no more arty-farty, do-good nin-

compoops that have brought this coun-try to verge of bankruptcy over the lastthree decades.

Standing last year for the first time forthe English Democrats in the KentCounty elections, coming second to theconservatives. Shortly afterwards I wasselected to stand as the parliamentarycandidate for Dartford.

Why should people vote for theEnglish Democrats. We are the onlyparty standing for England and theEnglish people, not for Scotland, not forWales, and not for Ireland. We not leftor right, we are not racist, we just wantto put England first.

I feel strongly that we should have areferendum on our membership of theEU.

We want to be political free of the EU,but remain a member of the EU freetrade area. The EU legalisation is hav-ing a detrimental effect on our industry.

The cab trade in London plays a mas-sive part in the commercial life ofLondon.

It seems to me no one in parliamentwill speak up for us.

"The BAME and Women Taxischeme was started in 2007 toprovide training so that 400Londoners would obtain theKnowledge/Green Badge by 2010.However to date the project hasnot achieved more than 10 peoplecompleting the knowledge andfunding to September would only

ensure that 50 people would passthe knowledge, the LDA cannotjustify an investment of£1,997,780 for only 12.5% ofthose on the scheme achievingthe knowledge accreditation, thisis not good value for money,especially when 30% of allKnowledge students are now

from BAME groups. We are working with the delivery part-

ner on options to support those on thescheme to continue their training.

We continue to invest in a range ofother schemes which are deliveringgreat value for money for London andspecifically to help Londoners intowork from BAME communities."

Heathrow Taxi Marshals : Thereare at least sixty drivers atHeathrow who are 'recognised' byNSL staff in the Cab-In asdrivers who are allowed toby-pass the two feeder parks.Of these sixty drivers, someare trade reps and some aremarshals, but there are also a fewdrivers who are neither reps normarshals .

Jenny Croft is the NSL manager incharge in the Cab-In, but she refuses toexplain how NSL staff are able to decidewho may or may not avoid the feederparks. It looks very much as thoughBAA has given NSL unfettered controlover the log book recording the namesof drivers who are exempt from therules of the Taxi System. It seems asthough once Cab-In staff decide thatyour face fits, you are on the gravy train.

One year ago the taxi marshals circu-lated a copy of a document known asthe Service Level Agreement. It consistsof 18 rules that taxi marshals are sup-posed to follow when they alternatebetween doing their marshalling dutiesand cab driving. Heathrow Police arementioned in the document andbecause of this, the Police were askedto answer important questions about themarshals. Just before this issue of the

Badge went to press, Heathrow PoliceInspector clarified a few points abouttheir relationship with the marshals. Firstof all, contrary to what the rules of themarshalling scheme clearly state, thePolice deny responsibility for decidingwho qualifies to be a marshal. Secondlyand once again contrary to what isclaimed by the marshals, the Police donot ratify the rules that marshals aresupposed to follow. Thirdly, the Policeare unable to confirm which taxi tradebodies are responsible for approvingand drafting the rules for marshals.

Although the name of Heathrow Policecrops up several times in the so-calledService Level Agreement , it all looksvery much as though the use of theword 'Police' is unauthorised and hasbeen used merely to add weight to avery flimsy set of rules that the marshalshave cobbeled together themselves. Toadd to the overall confusion about whois supposed to be in charge, rule 12 ofthe marshals' document states thatHALT executives are in charge of themarshals. But the April issue of CabTrade news, advises any driver whowants to become a marshal to report toUnite's new office in Bath road.

The whole point of focussing on theseso-called rules for marshals is quite sim-ple. They don't exist and have neverexisted in the form of a legally binding

agreement signed by BAA, theHeathrow trade bodies and HeathrowPolice . Above all, there is absolutelynothing in any one of the 18 rules formarshals to suggest that marshalsshould be allowed to by-pass the feederparks.

HALT AND HALTS : The LCDC has formally written to BAA

Heathrow asking for details of the fiveyear contract allegedly signed by BAA(HAL) and the new company known asHALTS. Heathrow drivers are entitled tohave at their disposal information to ver-ify that the 76p HALT levy collected byBAA corresponds to the actual cost ofthe running the taxi information desksand that the levy is not being used toprop up business projects controlled bythe directors of HALTS. This process ofverification is even more important giventhat all drivers at Heathrow are com-pelled by BAA to pay for a private busi-ness agenda which is never going toearn the support of the majority. Forexample, the majority of drivers aretotally opposed to having to help HALTSdirectors to purchase or acquire creditcard terminals. The majority of driversare also opposed to funding anyscheme set up by HALTS that involvessubstituting metered fares into town withfixed fares. If HALTS directors want todevelop such a scheme or anything

similar, then let them use their ownmoney and not money forced from thepockets of Cabtag holders by BAA.

In February 2009, Colin Evans theself-styled chairman of HALT set up pri-vate company HALTS and is nowattempting to mislead drivers into believ-ing that HALT has been legitimatelyconverted to HALTS. In reality, ColinEvans his fellow directors of HALTShave seriously over-estimated their abili-ty to comprehend the complex legal pro-cedures that would facilitate the legalconversion of HALT to HALTS. TheIndustrial and Provident Societies Act1965 lays down that such a conversioncan only take place following the pass-ing of a special resolution, by HALTmembers. At the time of writing HALTmembers have no intention of passingthe special resolution and HALTS direc-tors have found themselves unable tocomplete the official documentationrequired by the Financial ServicesAuthority. (FSA). In a nutshell, HALT isstill alive and kicking and a very longway from disappearing from Heathrowwithout a trace.

Airport matters

Ethnic knowledge funding stopped

As you can see from the latest press release by the LondonDevelopment Agency the " Ethnic Knowledge " scheme had hadtheir funding stopped.It is worth pointing out that at the time of the scheme being rolled

out, the London Cab Drivers Club was the ONLY trade associationto voice any objections to the scheme.With feelings running high within the trade at the time, we held a

very high profile demonstration outside the Palestra building, withmany drivers and knowledge boys taking part.

" I strongly believed then, and still do, that this was no more thana cynical ploy by Mayor Ken Livingstone to entice votes out of thecommunity in London. There was and still is no barrier in place tostop anybody from applying to do the K.O.L and he knew this."- Grant Davis, Chairman

Bob Hassan LCDC member

Taxi drivers and knowledge boys voice dis-approval at ethnic knowledge scheme

BY: PETER “THE CANNON” - LCDC AIRPORT REP




Satellite offices = Legalised toutingMICKEY WALKERLCDC MEMBER

How did satellite offices comeabout? Our trade called for aproper night tariff for manyyears but these calls fell on deafears. By the time we got a prop-er night tariff, there was a gag-gle of touts outside most nightvenues, accosting and intimidat-ing the people leaving and anillegal rank of their death-trapmotors on the roadside..

Old Bill found it expedient to ignorethis blatant law - breaking, finding thebenefit of clearing the streets of drink -fuelled partygoers to be worth the costof around 400 rapes and/or sexualassaults that these touts committed ontheir unsuspecting passengers/victims.That was, at least, until The SuzyLamplugh Trust came along and start-ed making justified noises about thesituation.

The authorities could no longer getaway with just ignoring the touts activ-ities and so the next step was tolicence private hire. As far as the tout-ing was concerned it solved nothingas it just meant that now we have twotypes of touts - those that are unli-censed and those that are licensedbut breaking the law.

Instead of eradicating the touting, TfLlegalised it with the introduction of thefarcical satellite office system. The dif-

ference between being inside or out-side of the establishment is a smoke-screen. A PH operator can only takepre-bookings but these jobs are walk-ups and not pre-bookings. The carsare not to be available for immediatehire and yet they are outside formingan illegal rank, usually violating park-ing restrictions, while the drivers arewaiting at the door harassing thepatrons.

The illegal activities of these satelliteoffices have become so endemic thatthat firms selling order and despatchsystems for PH operators are makinga selling point of their systems' abilityto facilitate this legalised touting. Letme quote you from one firm's advertis-ing for a PDA based order anddespatch system. They claim theirsystem is "a truly portable sys-tem"………"For instance, we have aclient who is using the system on thedoor of a busy nightclub" The blurbgoes on to explain how it is entirelypossible for this system to be used bya driver to tout a fare, pass the detailsvia a hand - held PDA unit to hisoffice, where they create a bookingand off he goes. It ain't pre - booked!It ain't legal!

In all likelihood and if we do nothingto stop it, the next move will be tolegalise that rank of cars. TfL'sSurface Transport Committee (onwhich one of our trade leaders sits)recently discussed a "gold standard"scheme for PH operators. One of theproposed sweeteners for firms reach-

ing the gold standard will be parkingareas for their cars. It would be but ashort step from this to putting suchparking areas outside the door of avenue.

What TfL and the Police cannot seeis how facilitating touting defeats theirpurpose. Club-goers are encouragednot to book a car from a bona fideoperator because they can find a touton the door or outside when theyleave. They are being encouraged outonto the street. Just what the policeare trying to avoid.

Our driver organisations haveworked and fought to prevent this situ-ation with very little effect despite theirbest efforts. The time has come whenit is simply not sufficient for drivers tojust rely on these organisations. It istime for cab drivers to take individualresponsibility in beating the touts. Wecannot rely on others to protect ourtrade for us.

In 2009 a very effective strategycame into place. It started with someDAC drivers and then was carried onby members of the LTDF. These driv-ers began forming illegal ranks out-side some major venues such as TigerTiger and Nobu. The customers lovedit and were happy to use a taxiinstead of a tout. This hurt the touts somuch that they began phoning thepolice to move the taxis on.

Now the driver organisations and theJTRC became involved. The illegalranks could not be policed effectivelyand the public loved them. The

answer for TfL was simply the sameas they have dealt with touts - officialranks were sited outside these ven-ues. This is the way forward but theLTDF drivers cannot continue spear-heading these actions and serving theranks that have been won on theirown.

If more drivers become involved, tohelp our trade negotiators from theUnited Trade Group, we could eventu-ally have ranks outside night venueswherever there are touts . The resultcould be a busy rank no more than acouple of minutes away from a driverin the central area. This may beimportant as the price of derv isexpected to reach an all-time highsoon.

It needs ordinary drivers though, totake part in organised servicing ofthese ranks, working with the driverorganisations to win official rankswhere they are unofficial. You do nothave to belong to the LTDF. If you areinterested, leave a mobile number ore-mail address at the LCDC officesand I will see to it that you are con-tacted with information on the ranks tobe serviced at given times.

If you are a nightman your help isrequired. If you are a day man, per-haps think about doing the odd nightto help out. This is not something youcan just leave to your trade leaders.Either we get involved individually orelse will surrender a large portion ofour work to the touts forever.



ALAN’S ANGLE

After months of touts takingadvantage of Westminster'sfree park and tout scheme out-side Tiger Tiger Westminstercouncil are starting to biteback.They have know put up new sig-

nage regarding that only taxis canpark outside Tiger Tiger from 10pm to6pm and also have installed a newcamera to make sure the rank does-n't get abused after 10pm. I stillbelieve they should have marked therank out as this will still cause confu-sion with the I haven't a clue trafficwardens who in the past have strug-

gled to enforce the rank.Also I'm a bitconfused with Mr Mason saying weshould rank down at the front of therank when there is a fence thatWestminster have not removedwhich doesnt allow us to load anyonein the taxi. We have from the startalways parked at the door of TigerTiger and rolled forward as the rankfeels up and this stops any touts get-ting in behind and nicking our jobs.We also need the marshalls up bythe door to help any passengers thatneed a taxi as they wont find manyon the corner of Panton St. Also donot expect the rank to clear up over

night as Westminster have said theywill only be issuing warnings to any-one for the next two weeks that getscaught by one of there new camerasites. But then again let's see if thewardens can try and keep the otherside of the Haymarket clear fromtouts .This rank will only work if itgets the taxis to service it if you areempty put on you might be surprisedat the jobs that come out of TigerTiger.So let's see if the new signage and

camera can keep this touting hotspotclear and allow us to work this rankproperly.

Last month saw the opening off the KingsCross Taxi Club it's a 24hr watering hole fortaxi drivers only. It's situated in Camley St justnorth of the nature reserve. It provides hot andcold food and toiletfacilities although only portaloos at themoment .

I did hear that the owners are trying to get permanenttoilets on site. There is plenty of room for taxis and withCCTV in operation for taxi security. After the closure ofthe Royal Oak there have been a lot of drivers displacedlooking for food and toilets.We need more places to stopand eat as it's getting very frustrating trying to gettingsafely parked and grabsomething to eat in the morningas you run the risk of picking up a PCN for grabbing asandwich. So let's hope this venture is a great successfor the owners.

New taxi centre opens at King’s Cross

The lost rank files

Tiger Tiger camera in place!

Every month now I'm going toreport on ranks that might havebeen forgotten or are beingabused by SCABS.

First up is the 9 cab rank we have inCharring Cross road it operates from11pm until 3am it lies between theWyndham theatre and the Garricktheatre this rank is completly in thewrong place and the times don't evenmatch the times of the theatre's turn-ing out.

All it's seems fit for at the moment isTOUTS vehicles that Infest it late atnight. I have asked for this rank to besplit with half of it going just by Bearst on the other side Charring crossroad with the other part becoming a

feeder rank.And know with MrMason re directing the Cranborn Stmarshalls to Tiger Tiger this wouldbe a great opportunity to get at theTOUTS that line up by Bear St andTOUT all the work coming out of

Leicester Sq.We need to start get-ting our ranks in the correct pos-tions at venues from the start or weare left with ranks like this one thatdo not offer us any chance ofworking it.


Mini companies houseOnce again I am confused atwhat goes on in the PublicCarriage Office, (PCO) becausefor the life of me I can't think ofone legal reason why a licensePrivate Hire Operator would reg-ister their company in eleven dif-ferent names, all at the sameaddress with the same phonenumber.

If I was working in the licensingdepartment in the PCO alarm bellswould be ringing .WE have beeninformed by Safer Transport Control(STC) in previous meetings, that peo-ple involved in organized crime haveinfiltrated certain parts of the private

hire world. This is not just a one offtheir are lots of companies making useof this crazy loophole. I am not sug-gesting that 121 Transport Ltd arebreaking the Law in anyway I just can'tunderstand why, Even if it was just tomislead the public on the internetsometimes this is wrong. If it wasthought that I as a licensed taxi driverwas trying to mislead the public in any-way I would be put on complaint by the(PCO). Maybe someone from the PCOor the Private Hire industries couldenlighten me. Perhaps Mr. Masoncould redeploy some of his staff to lookfurther into this situation to see whythey feel the need to register so manycompanies at one location.????

Hi AAll,Just to say that as both a night man and a member of the Club, may Igive you all a pat on the back regarding the security marshalls at Nobu.At long last there are no touts nicking our work.well done again

Steven JonesRomford

Dear DDarryl,I just felt that I had to write in and thank you through the paper for all

the help which you have given me regarding my problems with theP.C.O. It is hard enough just to go to work without the stress and worryover my situation. Thank you for the letters and the personal represen-tation, I do not know what I would have done without the Clubs help. Iwould like to say to all the drivers out there who think that nothing willever happen to you at work, think again.!Thanks very, very, much

Peter Chingford

Dear LLCDC,Thanks you for your help in dealing with my complaint, I felt milesbetter after coming in for a chat and a cup of tea. Cheers.

Lawrence SmallKennington

LETTERS TO THE CLUB

121 Transport Ltd - ID: 5508 Licence expiry

England Transfer Brent 0208 900 2299 19/08/2013AA Express Brent 0208 900 2299 19/08/2013Airport Only Brent 0208 900 2299 19/08/2013BA Transfer Brent 0208 900 2299 19/08/2013British Airport Transfer Brent 0208 900 2299 19/08/2013Ealing Cars Brent 0208 900 2299 19/08/2013Trinity Car Brent 0208 900 2299 19/08/2013Wembley Car Brent 0208 900 2299 19/08/2013Wembley Carr Brent 0208 900 2299 19/08/2013Wembley Mini Cabs Brent 0208 900 2299 19/08/2013121 Transport Ltd Brent 0208 900 2299 19/08/2013

John Mason comes to the rescue for

LCDC member

On Friday 26th March, I was work-ing late in the Office when Irecieved a call from member StevieNichols who was upset to say theleast .

He informed me that his TX4 had justfailed It`s Inspection at SGS ( Tottenham )due to the fact that he had replaced his oldtax disc with the new one starting on April1st. I immediately telephoned John Mason( who was at home at the time ) andexplained my members dilema and thatSGS had refused to allow him to makeanother appointment until 1st April !

Mr Mason assured me that if I sent himover details of the cab, he would do hisutmost to remedy the situation. First thingMonday morning I received a call andemail from Helen Chapman of the PCOwho told me that she had been in touchwith SGS and had arranged for Mr Nicholsto take his taxi back up to SGS where hewould be issued with a plate.

The LCDC would like to put on record It`sappreciation for the Intervention by both MrMason, and Ms Chapman for their effortsto secure a satisfactory outcome for ourmember.

NOTICE OF LCDCAGM

TO BE HELD ONTUESDAY 18TH MAY 2010

@ 7.00PMAT THE LINCOLN HALL

THE BISCUIT FACTORY100 CLEMENTS ROAD

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The Marksman

What a festival Cheltenhamwas this year. It will beremembered as a bloodbath forpunters with only fourfavourites winning. It wascertainly Christmas come earlyfor those awful bookie chap-pies. However for those of youwho followed The Marksman apound stake on every selectionwould have showed an overallprofit of £20.50. High pointswere Menorah at 10/1 andWeapons Amnesty 10/1 I wasjust disappointed that the bestbets each day failed to deliverbut at the end of the day tocome out in profit was no meanfeat. So let's hope we can con-tinue with a few more winners.

April provides us with probably theworlds most famous and spectacularrace in The Grand National, run atAintree over 4 and a half miles.Followers of The Marksman wouldknow that Tricky Trickster was strong-

ly recommended at 25/1 at the startof the jumps season was one of myfive to follow. Having won the AonChase at Newbury all seemed to begoing well until he disappointed whenrunning in The Gold Cup atCheltenham. I was bitterly disap-pointed when Ruby Walsh decided toride stablemate Big Fella Thanks.This has knocked my confidence alittle but with Barry Geraty riding (Iconsider him an excellent substitute)who has won a national, all is not lostas we go to post Tricky Trickster is14/1 so the 25/1 we have is not toobad. The fact Ruby Walsh is ridingBig Fella Thanks is a huge tip in itselfso a saver at 10/1 seems a sensiblecall. So those two will be my twoselections against the field.

Those looking for some long shotscould do a lot worse than have a fewpounds on Can't buy time (25/1) fortrainer John Jo O'Neil and Chief DanGeorge (33/1) the Cheltenham festi-val winner trained by Tom George.Personally I would never back ahorse each way in the National, I

would sooner back two horses bothto win but hey, its your money.

On the flat both the 1,000 and 2,000guineas at Newmarket will both berun before the next issue of TheBadge is out so I will cover both ofthem briefly.

Saturday 1st May 2,000 Guineas(Three year old colts)

Favourite for the race is the Adain OBrien trained St Nicholas Abbey win-ner of last years Racing Post trophy.He is also favourite for the Derby.Mike Dillon (who is a Ladbrookesemployer) is a frequent visitor toBallydoyle and knows the scoreregarding the Adain O'Brien runnersand it is interesting to note thatLadbrookes have been the shortestprice (2/1) all winter. Whilst I think heis more of a Derby horse than anGuineas one. The one I'm verysweet on is the Coventry Stakes win-ner at Royal Ascot Canford Cliffs. Ihave always thought a lot of thishorse and at 7/1 is a three star bet.He's trainer Richard Hannon who haswon this race three times before wasquoted as saying 'We think he is thereal deal and the best we have hadin 40 years' Some accolade if youthink every year he has approximate-ly 200 horses in his yard.

Sunday 2nd May 1,000 Guineas(Three year old fillies)

I could go on and mention a few fil-lies who could go close in this racebut there isn't an. In my opinion thereis only one winner Special Duty win-ner of the Cheverly Park stakes atNewmarket on her final race as a twoyear old looks a cut above her rivals.This French filly trained by CriquetteHead Maarek, who has won this racethree times, is my five star bet, maxi-mum bet at odds of 3/1

So don't give too much back tothose awful bookie chappies. Belucky.

By Steve Bunce

'Steve BBunce iis aalegend iin bboxing' - Chris Eubank

**THE FIRST BOXING NOVEL BY ABRITISH SPORTS JOURNALIST**

Publication Date: 1 April 2010£9.99 Trade Paperback

Ray Lester makes fights happen. He is afixer, putting fighters together in big andsmall fights. He builds a bridge, walksacross it and guides boxers to the nego-tiating table. Ray Lester is very good athis job.

Then one morning Ray's life changes when agirl turns up on his doorstep asking for help.She desperately needs to find her father, an old-school Vegas crooner and man from the fightgame. Ray agrees to help, before flying, withhis questions and 30,000 other Brits with theirunion jacks, to Sin City to watch Hatton take onMayweather. But before long the body countbegins to rise. The chaos continues in AtlanticCity. The girl's father has vanished and thereare dangerous men looking for him. Ray findshimself in over his head when the boys inleather jackets start to hunt him down too, andhe is easier to find than the missing man.

Ray flees to London and ends up in Blackpool,scouring the streets for the man, his daughterand about six-million dollars. At the same time,he needs desperately to avoid being found bythe wrong people.

The Fixer is a fast-paced boxing thriller thatplunges into the murky secret domain of deals,fights and fighters. This is a world beyond theglitz, glamour and glory, where men like RayLester operate. Written in a style that will appealto fans of Budd Schulberg's work, The Fixergrants exclusive access to a realm where thefixer is king.

THEFIXER


Welcome, to another issue of'Around the Grounds', and withthe month of March over all theend of season fixtures begin topile up with the 'nitty gritty' andnail-biting moments becoming asfrequent as ever, with all theLondon Clubs taking part in vitalmatches with big consequencesin their specific campaigns. Itseems there are plenty of moretwists and turns to followthroughout the remainder of theseason for all!

ARSENALAn unbeaten Marchhas seen theGunners remain in astable push for thePremier League title.

The only inconsistency came in thefinal league match of the monthwhere they slipped to a 1-1 drawaway to Birmingham. This sawArsenal drift a few points behind.Regardless, with the final fixtureslooking very much in their favour,they are still seen as a serious partof the three-team race for the trophy.In terms of their Champions Leaguecampaign, Arsenal battled back from2-0 down to retrieve a 2-2 draw intheir 1st leg of their quarter final tiewith Barcelona.

CHELSEAIn a month which sawmany critics questionChelsea's quest forseveral competitions

due to an exit from the ChampionsLeague at the hands of JoseMourinho's Inter Milan, The Bluesdid actually fall behind 1st placeManchester United thanks to a drawwith Blackburn. However, The Bluesended the month on an extremehigh with a unexpected 7-1 victoryover Aston Villa. The penultimategame before the much anticipated,crucial match with fellow title hope-fuls Manchester United to come inApril.

TOTTENHAMSpurs, despite a num-ber of injuries to keyplayers throughout themonth, enjoyed a posi-tive March with 3 wins

from 3 in the league and also pro-gression into the semi-final of TheFA cup, after a 3-1 win in the replayof their quarter final tie with Fulham.In the race for the fourth and finalChampions League place, HarryRedknapp's men are in the drivingseat thanks to this good run ofresults.

FULHAMWith Roy Hodgson'sside seeming to tirein the latter stagesbecause of what hasbeen a busy but suc-

cessful season. They have estab-lished their Premier League statusonce again, even though they failedto win a domestic game duringMarch and are now focusing on theupcoming Europa League ties withWolfsburg after triumphing in aemphatic 4-1 victory over Italiangiants Juventus.

WEST HAMThe Hammers wentthrough a below parrun of results, whichhas caused them tofall just above the

bottom only on goal difference.Losing all games played throughoutMarch a lot of pressure has beenput on manager Gianfranco Zoladue to this disappointing form andsees his side involved in a toughbattle to save them from relegationto the Championship.

QPRThe appointment ofNeil Warnock as man-ager is being viewedas an act of ability,and focusing more on

next season rather than the remain-der of the current campaign. Sincehis appointment QPR have only lostone out all their matches fromMarch, with 4 draws and 2 wins andalso this solitary defeat away toReading. The most notable resultfrom the month was Warnock's firstgame, in a 2-1 win against promo-tion hopefuls West Brom.

CHARLTONA somewhatmiserable month forPhil Parkinson's sidehas continued to miss

out on many opportunities to takeover Leeds in the fight for thesecond automatic promotion place.The Addicks commenced the monthwith a victory against bottom teamStockport, however suffered acommanding 4-0 defeat by Millwalland following this were held in twoconsecutive draws with Gillinghamand Huddersfield.

CRYSTAL PALACEIn a hectic, butdecisive March for'cash-strapped'Palace, the Eaglesare currently in the

relegation zone thanks to only 2wins from the 8 games playedduring the month. The 3-1 victoryover Watford in the final match inMarch earned them a valuable threepoints and they are now only 1 pointoff escaping from the bottom 3.

MILLWALLAlthough I havebeen told byseveral Millwallfans (includingmy step dad)

not to write anything that will 'bok'their promotion push, I am thereforerestricted to mentioning the Lionsare piling the pressure on Leeds inthe race for 2nd, with a 2-0 win overLeeds being an important factor. Animpressive month for the Lions!

BRENTFORDBrentford seem tohave secured survivalin League 1 afterascending into the top

half of the division. This being due tofalling to only one defeat, other thanthis they enjoyed 3 wins overStockport, Leyton Orient, andOldham. Furthermore, earningdraws against difficult opposition inLeeds, MK Dons and Colchester.

BARNET Only a single victoryfrom March still leaveBarnet lingeringabove the relegationzone in League 2.

However 2 draws and that only winkeep them 11 points away from thebottom 2 and could be vital pointstowards the latter stages of the campaign.

LEYTON OREINT4 defeats out of 5games havequestioned Orient'ssafety from relegation

from League 1. They remain 3points above the relegation zoneand with important games upcomingagainst fellow strugglers approach-ing, interesting times lie ahead forGeraint William's side.

AROUND THE GROUNDS WITHBILLY NICKSON


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