Taxis - Black Cabs, Uber, Illegal Cabbies

40,000 criminals about to lose their jobs.

I'm interested to know where this "all Uber drivers are criminals" things comes from. I suspect it originates from the established private hire and hackney industry which feel threatened by a new business model and are looking to taint its credibility. Worryingly, the great British public have had no qualms about accepting this narrative as gospel truth. It definitely isn't.

As someone who issues licenses to hackney and private hire drivers I look at a lot of DBS certificates for people applying for new driver badges and badge renewals. For the vast majority, they're clear. Anecdotally I'd suggest that Uber drivers are less likely to have a conviction than those working for other operators. I doubt any serious analysis would show them being worse.

I guess that's a good thing because if 40000 (minus those for whom it is a second job) are about to receive their P45s, there's a lower risk of a correlating increase in criminality stemming from sudden end to legitimate livelihoods.

There's an important and necessary distinction between Uber and its drivers and too many people are eager to taint both with the same brush.