ONE of my first acts as a newly elected member in May was to answer the call of Glasgow’s taxi drivers and their worries over council policy on Low Emission Zones (LEZ).

Iconic across UK cities, the traditional black hack taxis welcome tourists, delegates and dignitaries from across the globe. However, more importantly, they serve the citizens of Glasgow round the clock, 365 days a year come rain or shine, a particularly important service for the disabled, elderly and vulnerable.

Yet, in Glasgow, many hundreds are facing the scrap heap as a direct result of a tin eared SNP/Green council decision not to allow them an exemption from the LEZ, due to be enforced from June 1 next year.

Many of you will be unaware of this seemingly well-meant but unthought through policy and its potential impact across the city.

Make no mistake this move threatens the livelihoods of several hundred small businesses, from the taxi operators themselves to hospitality businesses across Glasgow who rely on taxis, particularly the night-time economy, to transport their clientele to and from their various venues – without the confidence of how to get home, many just won’t go out.

This could be catastrophic to the Glasgow economy with job losses within the taxi trade alone running into hundreds.

The taxi trade argues that council policy is simply unaffordable to them. Having come through the pandemic then into spiralling fuel costs followed by a cost-of-living crisis only to be forced into this council-made race to a LEZ, not happening in any other area of Scotland this soon (the rest of Scotland will enforce a LEZ from June 2024).

It is not that the trade is unwilling to accept the transition to greener vehicles; they are simply asking for the period to be realistic and manageable.

They have a point; the mayor of Greater Manchester, Andy Burnham, has noted that such a fast transition is logistically impossible there, and has extended their Clean Air Zone transition until the end of 2026, saying “the vehicles just simply aren’t available to get the change in that time frame”.

Meanwhile in Glasgow, drivers have been served with a letter of notice (essentially their cards) which explains various options available to them; including grant support to convert old vehicles to alternative but marginally cleaner fossil fuels – they even mention interest free loans available to purchase a vehicle which doesn’t yet exist!

The taxi trade, like all others, needs a period to recover from the pandemic, adjust to the new normal of high fuel and energy costs, as well as serving a public which is reluctant or unable to spend as much. Government at every level exists to mitigate, when it can, against situations that affect our citizens and create an environment where people and businesses can flourish.

We can create a greener Glasgow and still support our taxi trade. By giving the (wheelchair accessible) taxi industry the time to catch up with an exemption from LEZ, then the city will be cleaner sooner (as old vehicles are traded for an all-electric alternative – there’ll be queues outside the showroom), with a largely carbon neutral taxi fleet years before the deadline.

The taxi trade is sending out the warnings now – it’s a wise politician who takes heed of the experts.

Sadly, their warnings continue to fall on deaf SNP/Green ears.

So, in the years to come as you wait in longer taxi queues after having trailed around the city searching for traditional Glasgow hospitality that managed to survive the cost-of-living and energy crises, as well as an intransigent SNP/Green coalition – let’s not say we weren’t warned.