LONDON taxi drivers brought Westminster to a standstill today in a protest at
being banned from dedicated Olympics traffic lanes.
More than 200 black cabs arrived in Parliament Square just before 2pm blaring
their horns to onlookers’ bemusement.
Their demonstration is targeted at Games organisers who developed the
so-called Zil lanes available only to Olympics officials, athletes and other
approved vehicles.
Jonathan Myers, of the United Cabbies group union, said: “There will be no
access to these lanes for any traffic apart from the Olympics family.
“Taxis are excluded, which is unacceptable and wrong. This is a working city
and we need to get around and do our job.”
Parliament Square quickly ground to a halt as the drivers descended on central
London for what they plan to be a two-hour protest.
Traffic soon snarled up Whitehall, Millbank and over Westminster Bridge as car
horns and traffic fumes filled the air.
Mr Myers said: “We’ve come to Parliament so MPs can wake up and hear what
we’re talking about.”
He believed it would “absolutely impossible” for cabbies to carry on ferrying
commuters around the capital during the Games when the full lane
restrictions take effect on July 25.
Motorists who stray into Games lanes face a fine of £130.
Mr Myers said: “London is going to be gridlocked and today we are showing them
what it is like when it is gridlocked.”
Taxi drivers plan further demonstrations on Monday and on July 27 the
day the Olympics officially open.
Mr Myers fears his members have been betrayed by officials who, he said,
hailed the city’s famous cabbies as one of the reasons London should be
awarded the Games. He said: “London taxis are held up as iconic throughout
the world.
“It turns out the only people who think we are not are our own transport
authorities.”