Bruce’s yellow taxi blues

Nov 28 2008 By Paul Dale

As any councillor should know, there are two subjects to be avoided at all cost – schools and taxis.

Both involve taking thankless decisions where you are damned if you do and damned if you don’t.

But even with the capacity for trouble, Birmingham licensing committee’s approach to “reforming” the city’s taxi trade has been disastrous.

First, an ill-judged suggestion that all cabs should be painted yellow – New York-style. Then, some genius invited 5,000 cabbies to a meeting in a hall with a maximum capacity of 800.

The meeting had to be abandoned amid rowdy scenes, with at least one councillor leaving through the back door for his own safety.

This, unsurprisingly, has caused tension in the Council House – particularly in the Conservative group.

Bruce Lines, head of the taxi working group, might have expected loyal support from fellow Tories.

But here’s what Stockland Green Conservative councillor Matt Bennett had to say about the cabbies’ consultation meeting:

“I can see the thinking behind some of these proposals, but many of them are just plain daft. Why do we need to have all the minicabs in Birmingham the same colour? What possible purpose does it serve?

“It’s just regulation for the sake of it.

“I really think the committee should reconsider some of these proposals. A lot of them just seem like petty bureaucracy and will just end up costing the drivers money at a time when they really can’t afford it.”

According to senior Tory sources, Bennett, who is hardly out of his teens, is under consideration to be fast-tracked into a scrutiny committee chairmanship, or even the cabinet, when the next vacancy occurs.

His closest rival in the promotion stakes is ... Bruce Lines.

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Question for opposition politicians – what do you do when those troublesome rivals come up with a policy you quite like?

The answer, according to Labour group leader Sir Albert Bore, a man with four years’ experience of opposition, is to claim you thought of it first.

So, when presented with the Big City Plan at cabinet this week, he gave it his unequivocal support before going on to add that it was earlier Labour administrations which began breaking the concrete collar.

He said: “Much of this is not new. Back in 1988 the inner ring road was downgraded. It was called the Queensway.”

He also took credit for the zoning of the city centre into the Convention Quarter, Jewellery Quarter and so on.

After all, it saves having to object to anything.

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Can it really be true that Labour has banned its councillors from contributing to The Stirrer website?

It seems a little unfair, if this is the case. It’s the only opportunity for publicity most of them get.