This evening I along with Wakefield Conservative Parliamentary Candidate Antony Calvert and Wrenthorpe Conservative Council Candidate Dean Ryan went to meet the striking taxi drivers in Wakefield to talk to them and find out why they have been forced to take action. It is a shocking situation as the Labour run WMDC council are imposing a huge financial burden on them.
Already the taxis have to have two vehicle checks a year costing £200 each, and now the council are making it three. This is on top of regular MOT. Most local authorities only have one check and they are having to pay more than London Taxi drivers. Also checks are done by the council's test centre which charges more than private testing.
Drivers told me that the Wakefield council have made half a million pound profit from this in the last year. This is clearly counter-productive, as the taxi drivers who are trying to make an honest living, will have to hike up the prices of their fares to make up for the money they have to spend on these extra tests. This will have a detrimental effect on our local residents who rely on taxis for work, the school run and trips to the local supermarket.
As the labour council make money from this, passengers will have to pay more in fares.
This is clearly a form of transport tax for local residents.
To show your support, please visit https://www.facebook.com/faredealforwakefieldtaxidrivers
Or the online petition is http://www.thepetitionsite.com/432/277/373/fair-deal-for-wakefield-taxi-drivers/