Uber is stripped of its licence in London after TFL rules it is unfit to operate over public safety fears - preventing its 40,000 drivers from working in the capital and sparking fury among millions of users

Uber was sensationally stripped of its licence to work in London by the city's transport authority today.
Transport for London (TfL) announced the firm - which has between 30,000 and 40,000 drivers - would be barred from working in the city due to 'its approach to reporting criminal offences'.
Passengers are outraged by the bombshell decision, which they say will leave them unable to afford late-night lifts home and will put thousands of drivers out of work.
Others have insisted the 'Luddite' move will send out a message that Britain is not open to new technological innovations.
But critics of Uber insist it has failed to properly vet its drivers and is an example of the so-called 'gig economy' that gives workers no employment rights.
The firm has vowed to appeal the decision, heralding a bitter legal battle which could have implications around the world.

Uber said in a statement that the decision would 'show the world that, far from being open, London is closed to innovative companies'.  The firm's current licence expires on September 30.
The firm has faced a barrage of criticism in recent years over the safety of customers, working rights for drivers and opposition from black cab drivers.
TfL concluded that the minicab app is 'not fit and proper' to operate in the capital due to concerns which have 'public safety and security implications'.

Transport for London said: 'TfL considers that Uber's approach and conduct demonstrate a lack of corporate responsibility in relation to a number of issues which have potential public safety and security implications.'
Mayor of Sadiq Khan, who was not involved in the decision but supports it, said: 'All companies in London must play by the rules and adhere to the high standards we expect - particularly when it comes to the safety of customers.
'Providing an innovative service must not be at the expense of customer safety and security.'

The reputation Uber has gained for dangerous drivers has come from a series of court cases in the capital.
In July, driver Jahir Hussain was jailed for 12 years for raping drunken women he picked up outside east London bars.
His first victim awoke to find Hussain fondling her breasts and undoing his belt on 12 October last year.

The woman lay still in the back of the cab frozen in fear as he raped her, Snaresbrook Crown Court heard. Father-of-four Hussain then carried out two attacks in quick succession in the early hours of 2 December.
He wasn't working for Uber at the time of the attacks, but the first of his two victims had booked an Uber cab and he said he was the driver.
In 2015, driver Samson Haile was jailed for eight months for sexually assaulted a female customer in the back of his taxi.
During a journey, the 32-year-old told the woman 'you are very pretty' and asked her if she had a boyfriend, before saying 'I want to have sex with you'.
He then turned round in his seat and touched her leg with his hand, before moving it up to her thigh. Minutes later touched her again on the knee at which point she screamed to be let out of the car.
Earlier this year, mother Annastazia Merrett claimed she suffered a black eye in a racist assault by an Asian Uber driver who called her a 'white b****'.

Last year, a hairdresser told how she required stitches after an angry Uber driver alleged dragged her down the road.
Sabrina Benltaief, 20, of Bromley, South East London, claimed the motorist drove off while she was leaning into the car and left her unconscious in the street before she later woke up in hospital.
Uber condemned the actions but no action was taken by police.






http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-4909568/Uber-BANNED-London-licence-decision.html

Do Uber drivers have to undergo the same police checks that Hackney and mini cab drivers have to pass?
My OH always had to have an up to date CRB check, I think they now call it a DBS check.
That wasn't foolproof because the checks were only done from when people arrived in this country, and as so many taxi drivers were immigrants it was a limited check, but it was better than nothing.

Syl wrote:Do Uber drivers have to undergo the same police checks that Hackney and mini cab drivers have to pass?
My OH always had to have an up to date CRB check, I think they now call it a DBS check.
That wasn't foolproof because the checks were only done from when people arrived in this country, and as so many taxi drivers were immigrants it was a limited check, but it was better than nothing.

The problem with CRB checks is that it doesn't stop you from committing a crime. These attacks and rapes are opportunistic, and it beats me why they think they can get away with it. That a man can't control his urges is something I can't understand.

A standing cock knows no barriers ! [ Confucius says]

HoratioTarr wrote:

Syl wrote:Do Uber drivers have to undergo the same police checks that Hackney and mini cab drivers have to pass?
My OH always had to have an up to date CRB check, I think they now call it a DBS check.
That wasn't foolproof because the checks were only done from when people arrived in this country, and as so many taxi drivers were immigrants it was a limited check, but it was better than nothing.

The problem with CRB checks is that it doesn't stop you from committing a crime.    These attacks and rapes are opportunistic, and it beats me why they think they can get away with it.   That a man can't control his urges is something I can't understand.  

Obviously a person can commit a crime after a CRB check has been done, but if their record is clear so far that's a better indication that he isn't a raving sexual predator than if he has past form.

Maybe there should be more taxi firms employing women drivers who only pick up lone women passengers.

nicko wrote:A standing cock knows no barriers !     [ Confucius says]

Confucius obviously had as much self control as these Uber drivers then.

Good that uber is losing licence!!!


Some of these uber cars are on for 24 hrs or more... obviusly where the drivers are not the ones who are supposed to be driving... they are letting other people drive around under their IDs...

Good news. They were a corrupt company and now they don't have David Cameron's backing and backhanders this was bound to happen.

Syl wrote:

HoratioTarr wrote:

The problem with CRB checks is that it doesn't stop you from committing a crime.    These attacks and rapes are opportunistic, and it beats me why they think they can get away with it.   That a man can't control his urges is something I can't understand.  

Obviously a person can commit a crime after a CRB check has been done, but if their record is clear so far that's a better indication that he isn't a raving sexual predator than if he has past form.

Maybe there should be more taxi firms employing women drivers who only pick up lone women passengers.

I think there are, aren't there?   I rarely use taxis.  The last taxi I got was a lift in Alan Henning's cab.

HoratioTarr wrote:

Syl wrote:

Obviously a person can commit a crime after a CRB check has been done, but if their record is clear so far that's a better indication that he isn't a raving sexual predator than if he has past form.

Maybe there should be more taxi firms employing women drivers who only pick up lone women passengers.

I think there are, aren't there?   I rarely use taxis.  The last taxi I got was a lift in Alan Henning's cab.

Alan Henning, the poor man who was beheaded by terrorists.

I personally dont know of a taxi firm that has lady drivers that can be requested...there probably are some ....maybe few and far between.

Yeah, that's him. He was a really nice man. We chatted for about 10 minutes about him going off to Syria. Last thing I said as I left the cab was something like....stay safe and you're an angel. I never forgot that ride, and when I got in I told my husband about it. That's how big an impact he made on me. Then a year later I saw his face in the news. I was gutted.

A few weeks ago, I made the mistake of Googling his memorial and that photo of his body lying there with his head on his stomach came up. It was awful.

HoratioTarr wrote:Yeah, that's him.   He was a really nice man. We chatted for about 10 minutes about him going off to Syria.  Last thing I said as I left the cab was something like....stay safe and you're an angel.  I never forgot that ride, and when I got in I told my husband about it.   That's how big an impact he made on me.  Then a year later I saw his face in the news.   I was gutted.

A few weeks ago, I made the mistake of Googling his memorial and that photo of his body lying there with his head on his stomach came up.  It was awful.  

Oh God....how horrible, imagine if his family see that.

I try to be carful what i see online, some things once seen can never be forgotten.

Syl wrote:

HoratioTarr wrote:Yeah, that's him.   He was a really nice man. We chatted for about 10 minutes about him going off to Syria.  Last thing I said as I left the cab was something like....stay safe and you're an angel.  I never forgot that ride, and when I got in I told my husband about it.   That's how big an impact he made on me.  Then a year later I saw his face in the news.   I was gutted.

A few weeks ago, I made the mistake of Googling his memorial and that photo of his body lying there with his head on his stomach came up.  It was awful.  

Oh God....how horrible, imagine if his family see that.

I try to be carful what i see online, some things once seen can never be forgotten.

I know. I do wish they wouldn't post horrible images on the Online newspapers too. I don't want to see Doctor Pimple Poppers boils erupting goo inbetween Theresa May's Brexit and Daniella Westbrook's ruined septum.

HoratioTarr wrote:

Syl wrote:
Oh God....how horrible, imagine if his family see that.

I try to be carful what i see online, some things once seen can never be forgotten.

I know.  I do wish they wouldn't post horrible images on the Online newspapers too.  I don't want to see Doctor Pimple Poppers boils erupting goo inbetween Theresa May's Brexit and Daniella Westbrook's ruined septum.

I know....nothing like an oozing abscess to put you off your dinner.

Off to bed, sweet dreams. 

Syl wrote:

HoratioTarr wrote:

The problem with CRB checks is that it doesn't stop you from committing a crime.    These attacks and rapes are opportunistic, and it beats me why they think they can get away with it.   That a man can't control his urges is something I can't understand.  

Obviously a person can commit a crime after a CRB check has been done, but if their record is clear so far that's a better indication that he isn't a raving sexual predator than if he has past form.

Maybe there should be more taxi firms employing women drivers who only pick up lone women passengers.

That is quite sexist and derogatory to men in general... and you are forgetting that there are predatory women out there who prey on vulnerable females too...!


If there was a much tighter/stricter security checking/monitoring system in place that ensured drivers were of a high level of decency etc, then it wouldn't matter whether driver was male or female with any customer/fare...!

Tommy Monk wrote:

Syl wrote:

Obviously a person can commit a crime after a CRB check has been done, but if their record is clear so far that's a better indication that he isn't a raving sexual predator than if he has past form.

Maybe there should be more taxi firms employing women drivers who only pick up lone women passengers.

That is quite sexist and derogatory to men in general... and you are forgetting that there are predatory women out there who prey on vulnerable females too...!


If there was a much tighter/stricter security checking/monitoring system in place that ensured drivers were of a high level of decency etc, then it wouldn't matter whether driver was male or female with any customer/fare...!

Given the fact that there have been so many reported rapes and sexual attacks on women by male Uber drivers over the last year, i think its a service that many lone women would welcome.

Can you list a few of these attacks and the details of the drivers/attackers so we can see if there are any other coincidental similarities going on, apart from them all being male...?



And then let's consider the lack of security checks and controls and vetting etc... when compared to london black cabs procedures and subsequent almost non existent level of safety issues for passengers/fares...?

Uber drivers "out of work"  !!!

Pure bullshit, that -- Uber drivers aren't 'workers' --  they are part-time pirates, pure and simple..


Uber customers were "outraged"  ???   Tough titties..  Uber customers are 'scab' customers --  let them rot in hell.


Uber was de-licensed because they woulldn't follow the rules..

Stuff 'em  !!!

WhoseYourWolfie wrote:

Uber drivers "out of work"  !!!

Pure bullshit, that -- Uber drivers aren't 'workers' --  they are part-time pirates, pure and simple..


Uber customers were "outraged"  ???   Tough titties..  Uber customers are 'scab' customers --  let them rot in hell.


Uber was de-licensed because they woulldn't follow the rules..

Stuff 'em  !!!

I agree...!


Plus I think uber shouldn't have been allowed to operate in the first place!!!

Tommy Monk wrote:

WhoseYourWolfie wrote:

Uber drivers "out of work"  !!!

Pure bullshit, that -- Uber drivers aren't 'workers' --  they are part-time pirates, pure and simple..


Uber customers were "outraged"  ???   Tough titties..  Uber customers are 'scab' customers --  let them rot in hell.


Uber was de-licensed because they woulldn't follow the rules..

Stuff 'em  !!!

I agree...!


Plus I think uber shouldn't have been allowed to operate in the first place!!!

Agree with you both.

Hackney cabbies will be happy....they took a lot of work away from them.

surely at least part of the problem could be solved by making sure that ONLY those who can pass a FULL DBS check are employed.....non of this "partial" business.....

It is utterly wrong that we have a safety check such as this and "some" can walk through it on a "bye" simply by "not having the right papers".

Either its the full job or it isnr ...and therfore worthless

Many of these drivers are letting other people drive their cars about picking up fares etc... all pretending to be the registered driver... many of these will be illegal immigrants/criminals etc and without driving licences/insurance etc...!!!

Even 1 assault by a Uber driver is one assault too many.
Cabbies should be as safe as possible, and cabs should be a safe sanctuary. Black cabs are also the eyes and ears of the lical community.