The Mayor of London, Sadiq Khan, today (5 December) revealed a private hire driver who had his licence revoked by Transport for London after indecent images of children were found in his possession, managed to manipulate Uber's driver platform and gain access to jobs illegally.
Speaking to James O'Brien on LBC, the Mayor of London said: "Tfl, as the regulator, has to have the safety of the public as a priority.
"Let me tell you the two biggest concerns that TfL have. There have been 14,000 times a passenger has got into an Uber car and the person they thought was driving them wasn't that driver.
"Then, number two, there have been examples when drivers had been suspended or dismissed due to serious concerns. I can now tell you one of them was a driver having obscene photographs of a child on their social media device.
"Yet those drivers who had been suspended or dismissed were able to play the system that Uber has and drive people around. Public safety is a priority and the independent experts that TfL hired said the systems aren't robust.
"How can TfL not err on the side of caution and say we're not convinced, we're not going to renew your licence. I don't care how big Uber is. When I'm the Mayor, I want a system where everyone plays by the rules."
Uber have said they will be appealing Transport for London's decision.
Image credit: Pixabay
