Taxi drivers should not have regulation ‘unduly’ put on them, says leading government figure

Taxi drivers should not have regulation unduly put on them, said the government’s Leader of the House of Commons.

Speaking in response to a question put forward to him, Jacob Rees-Mogg, a Conservative MP and Leader of the House of Commons, supported the idea that taxi drivers should not be weighed down by heavy-handed regulation.

James Daly, the Conservative MP for Bury North, asked the question during a Business of the House debate yesterday: “Will my right hon. Friend find time for a debate on how Government and local authorities can support taxi drivers?

“Taxi drivers are the largest self-employed sector in my constituency.

“We must work to ensure that they are able to earn a sustainable living and are not weighed down by disproportionate costs and heavy-handed regulation.”

Jacob Rees-Mogg replied: “I have the greatest admiration for taxi drivers.

“Disraeli called the London cab “the gondola of London”, and we should think of our taxi drivers as the gondoliers of London - not that they usually sing to us, but they send us merrily along our way with their incisive and well-informed conversation.

“Well, I often find that I am in agreement with them - that is why I think their conversation is so well-informed and incisive.

“We should of course not bear down on them unduly with regulation - although I believe that the regulation that London taxis have to keep hay in their boot is no longer applicable.”

This latest comments come following the government’s announcement that they “will be issuing statutory taxi and private hire standards shortly” according to leading Government MP Nusrat Ghani last week.

Image credit (Rees-Mogg): UK Parliament (CC3.0)

Image credit (taxi): Ross Campbell