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ah, thanks for your informed reply. The brief report I'd read said
"protest at plans to improve safety and reduce harmful emissions by Transport for London who are proposing to restrict any vehicles other than buses and bicycles from nearby Tooley Street."
but as you point out there's clearly more to it than that. I'm not anti black cab at all but just think it would be great if cabby organisations could became more part of a solution to the state of London traffic and air, rather than often being found protesting for the status quo.
there's an interesting piece about the electric cabs here (although it reads like an advertorial at times):
https://www.wired.co.uk/article/levc-geely-london-electric-black-taxis-cabs
nonowt
Oliver Schick
What taxi drivers are seeing are increasing numbers of traffic projects in which 'quasi-one-way systems' are being introduced--that is, streets which are made one-way for private motor traffic and two way for other modes, such as buses and pedal cycles, without a corresponding alignment in the other direction. Tavistock Place, in protesting against which they achieved at best a partial victory, is one example. That route is one of the most important taxi routes in London (for picking people up at King's Cross/St Pancras and taking them to hotels in Paddington without being stuck on the A501 Inner Ring Road, to put it crudely), and Tooley Street is another. To them, the damage is simply economic damage to their profession. The service they provide is dependent on being hired on the street, i.e. at taxi ranks, which are in particular locations, and having to do huge detours every time they leave from there or return there is a serious threat for them.
They're obviously not fighting for the right to pollute anywhere--it's very likely that London's black cab fleet will be one of the first to be largely or fully electrified (which I realise only shifts pollution and would 'greenwash' driving, which would in turn probably cause more driving). Already, many cabs run on alternative fuels, not because they're better for the environment, but because they're cheaper, and cabbies have seen their earnings fall for years (with the usual exceptions).