The court has today granted Uber a 15 month licence. My statement in response follows, which says it all:

“The decision by the court to grant Uber a 15 month licence will be received as a kick in the teeth to the thousands of licensed taxi drivers and minicab operators who play by the rules.

“Uber have finally accepted that TFL was right to revoke their licence, having flouted their licensing conditions, put passenger safety at risk and paid a substantial sum to criminal hackers to release the personal data of their customers and drivers before trying to cover it up. It is hard to imagine a black cab driver or small minicab operator being given this kind of second chance, but – as ever – it looks like one Thanks rule for the big corporation and another rule for the small business men and women of the taxi and private hire industry.

“After years of inaction under the previous Mayor of London, I’m glad that TFL finally acted to enforce the rules against Uber with the support of Sadiq Khan. They must be relentless in holding Uber to account. Uber is now on notice to clean up their act. We will judge them by what they do, rather than what they say.”