Uber vs London Taxi Drivers’ Association: Sajid Javid knows the benefits of enterprise
One should never assume that a Secretary of State for Business will be, by nature, pro-business. Fortunately, the current occupier of the role, Sajid Javid, most definitely is.
He possesses an instinctive understanding of the benefits of enterprise, competition and innovation. This perspective is doubtless the product of having witnessed his immigrant father save enough money through working on the buses to start a small clothing shop in Bristol, above which a young Javid was raised.
After university, he pursued a career in banking, becoming the youngest vice-president in the history of Chase Manhattan before joining Deutsche Bank in 2000.
It’s a compelling backstory and one that gives the Bromsgrove MP a broad and comprehensive understanding of business and the City.
It explains in part why, last month, Javid responded to proposals by Transport for London to slap daft new restrictions on Uber by saying: “I’m not interested in heavy-handed regulation. I want to make sure that consumers are put first… Londoners want choice, they value competition.”
Let us hope that this view is shared by the Business, Innovation and Skills Select Committee, which will this morning take evidence from both Uber and the London Taxi Drivers’ Association. The committee is looking into “issues relating to disruptive technologies”.
This is a worthy and necessary exercise as government tries to figure out how best to support a wave of innovation.
Uber is not without its critics. Some raise concerns over its international tax status, others point to safety concerns (despite the fact that its drivers hold the same licence as a London cabbie) and the more vocal elements of the taxi lobby simply do not want the competition, however they dress up their objections.
MPs will this morning hear the now familiar lines from the London Taxi Drivers’ Association and they would be right to meet them with a raised eyebrow.
Services and apps such as Uber empower the consumer and enable people to work and earn a living in innovative ways. Javid understands this. He’s already told the committee that TfL’s review should come out on the side “of ordinary Londoners”.
He’s right. And his dad would doubtless have agreed with him.