Banger to rights

Politicians accuse Unite taxi leader of trying to get pollution controls postponed – while being partner in firm recycling gas-guzzler black cabs

- Gordon Blackstock

A union taxi boss has been accused of vested interests in lobbying to keep polluting cabs on the road.

Leading politicians have criticised Unite taxi leader Calum Anderson for his links to a company selling old gas-guzzling London cabs.

The 53-year-old has campaigned to get Scotland’s biggest council to postpone introducing tough targets on polluting cabs.

The union leader has demanded licensed taxis be exempt from rules that will make Glasgow the first Scottish city to introduce a low emission zone (LEZ) for all vehicles in 2022.

Anderson, from Newton Mearns, near Glasgow, has demanded the rules be relaxed for cab drivers until at least 2027 on cost grounds.

But critics say Anderson, a taxi driver with 30-plus years’ experience, is making money from keeping the rules as they are. The 53-year-old is listed as one of two people with significant control over P & C Taxi Services Limited, based in an industrial unit in Dalmarnocck.