This was "discussed" today by that opinionated bully James O'Brien
who, as usual, overlooked all the crucial issues and concentrated
on a side issue which he misunderstood.

I have no connection with Uber. I don't use them. I don't work
for them. I don't own shares in them and I don't speak for them.
Of course they should comply with the law passed by Tony Blair's
Government and administered by TfL, and, of course, they should
not have special privileges denied to other minicab firms. But forcing
Uber to toe the line is not the issue here.

The reason Uber have upset the applecart is because they have
recognised a huge change in the market and have worked out how
to cater to that changed market. Essentially it's a generation issue.
Today's young generation is obsessed with modern technology,
in particular smart phones. Go on the underground and watch
young adults. They are all face down, concentrating on their
smart phones. They don't read books or newspapers and they
certainly don't engage in conversations. Nope. They have one
obsession only. They use their phones to listen to music in very
poor quality sound. Even more absurdly, they watch movies -
made to be seen on the big screen - on their phones! They prefer
to watch films on a 3" screen to watching at home of a decent
sized TV! And when it comes to ordering a cab, they want to use
their phones.

The taxi trade can bleat and whine as much as they want, and fools
like James O'Brien can bark up the wrong tree to their hearts'
content, but none of that will change the core issue. The old adage
remains valid: he who pays the piper calls the tune. Taxi drivers are
not paying for the journey; the passenger is. The passenger can
choose how he or she will spend their money. It's not illegal to order
a cab via a smart phone and it's not illegal to use a minicab in
preference to a taxi. It's not illegal to spend one's money foolishly.
TfL can regulate cab firms but they can't regulate the customers,
and the customers don't give a tuppenny ha'ppeny damn about TfL
or about minicab regulations.

I strongly suspect that Uber will eventually put most minicab
firms out of business too. One of the central elements of Uber's
business model is that payment is done in the same way as with
Amazon and other on-line traders. Prospective customers open
an account and supply their credit card details. When a cab is
ordered, Uber work out the distance involved and debit the credit
card accordingly. The passenger does not pay the driver. This
eliminates the biggest single complaint customers make about
minicabs: drivers overcharging. I foresee a time when large numbers
of minicab customers refuse to use their local minicab firms because
they have been "ripped off" too often and use Uber instead.