If you’ve ever spent your morning commute daydreaming about starting afresh with your career, this feature is for you. Each Monday, our Money blog speaks to someone from a different profession to discover what it’s really like. This week we chat to Mark White, who has been a London cab driver for 33 years…
Our salaries have fallen £15,000… Pre-pandemic, a full-time London cabbie could earn around £35,000-£45,000 net. These days, with rising operating costs (weekly lease for an electric taxi alone can exceed £300) and increased competition from app-based private hire vehicles, many are earning significantly less. A driver’s take-home can now be closer to £25,000-£30,000 unless they work long hours, and even then it’s unpredictable.
Uber has… fundamentally changed the industry, not because of innovation, but because it exploited regulatory gaps. Many cabbies see Uber drivers as pawns in a wider system that undercuts standards. It’s not personal: most understand that those drivers are trying to earn a living, too. But there’s frustration that private hire vehicle drivers can operate with far fewer requirements, while taxi drivers face intense regulation with no enforcement parity.
One of the biggest challenges is… running a compliant, electric cab in a city that lacks adequate charging infrastructure. I would like to see proper EV support – charging access, grants, scrappage schemes that actually help. I would also like taxi access to all bus lanes and areas to be restored.
Image: Mark White has been a London cab driver for 33 years
To do this job you need… to complete The Knowledge. It’s a three to four-year process, covering over 25,000 streets in a six-mile radius of Charing Cross. You’re tested regularly in person. It’s not just about navigation – it’s judgement, memory, and mental resilience. The most important skill? Patience. Both behind the wheel and in life.
I used to say I would retire at… 65 but who knows now? With costs rising and pensions shrinking, many of us work well into our seventies. My plan is simple: stay healthy, stay behind the wheel while I can.
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The most expensive day and time for someone to get a taxi is… anytime we’re stuck in traffic – London’s the most congested city in the world. But the meter is regulated, so unlike surge-pricing apps, passengers always know what to expect.
I love a good natter but… I can tell pretty quickly if someone wants silence. The question I wish people would stop asking? “So, do you use a sat nav?”-I spent four years doing The Knowledge. Of course I don’t.
I only refuse fares for… legitimate reasons. If the passenger is aggressive, drunk and disorderly. But if I’m working, and they’re safe, I’ll go anywhere.
Some of the best things I’ve overheard in my cab are… a couple breaking up. Midway through a row, she calmly asked, “Can I get out now?” He said: “Not till you hear me out.” They were still arguing when I pulled over. Also overheard a guy rehearsing his marriage proposal. Practised it four times. He tipped well.
I have met plenty of famous people over the years… One of the best was Sir Ian McKellen. He was polite, warm, and tipped generously, and Ken Bates – the old Chelsea chairman.
Image: Sir Ian was a good tipper, Mark says. Pic: CelebrityPhotosUK/Cover Images/AP
The biggest tip I ever got was from a… city gent. He gave me £100 on a £25 fare. He’d just landed a big deal and said I reminded him of his old man. Can’t argue with that!
I have chased a fare dodger once… I chased him through Soho before realising how ridiculous I looked. These days, you call the police or write it off. It doesn’t happen often now with contactless payments, but it still stings when it does.
My worst experience with a passenger was… one who threw up in the back and then legged it without paying.
And my best was… a young lad going to a job interview. He was nervous, told me his whole story. Six months later, he flagged me down again in the same suit, now working, and wanted to say thanks.
I have felt unsafe at work… a few times, especially late at night. Once, a group tried to pile in drunk and rowdy. I locked the doors and drove off. Mostly, you get good instincts – and having a CCTV helps.
The best perk of the job is… freedom. You’re your own boss. You meet people from all walks of life. And when you help someone get home safely, or pick up an elderly passenger who hasn’t been out in weeks, it feels like more than just a job.
On a typical day, I work for… eight to 10 hours, depending on trade. Some work split shifts, others nights. You start early, check your cab, hit the ranks or roam, maybe take a break mid-afternoon, then back on for the evening rush.
It does make me hate driving in my personal life… a bit. I avoid Central London on my days off. But outside the M25, with no traffic, radio on, it’s actually relaxing.
The worst habit of British drivers is… lane-hogging. And not signalling. In London, the worst is cyclists jumping red lights and scooter riders weaving without warning. It’s chaos sometimes.
The most memorable moment on the job was… taking a WWII veteran to the Cenotaph. He told me stories all the way there. I didn’t charge him. He cried. So did I, a bit.
To save money on cab fares, you should… travel outside peak times. Avoid heavy traffic areas. And always ask if there’s a quicker route – that might save a few quid. Also, share a cab if it suits your journey.
The meter… works out what to charge people. It’s regulated by TfL and based on time and distance. There’s no guesswork. What you see is what you pay.
The threat of physical attacks by Iran on people living in the UK has increased “significantly” since 2022, according to a new report by parliament’s intelligence watchdog.
Iran poses a “wide-ranging, persistent and unpredictable threat” to the UK, according to the Intelligence and Security Committee.
It also said Iran’s intelligence services were “willing and able – often through third party agents – to attempt assassination within the UK, and kidnap from the UK”.
Image: Iran’s supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. Pic: Office of the Iranian Supreme Leader/West Asia News Agency/Reuters
The report said there have been 15 murder or kidnap attempts against British citizens or UK-based individuals since the beginning of 2022 and August 2023.
Sky News has approached the Iranian embassy for a comment.
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The report authors add: “Whilst Iran’s activity appears to be less strategic and on a smaller scale than Russia and China, Iran poses a wide-ranging threat to UK national security, which should not be underestimated: it is persistent and crucially – unpredictable.”
The committee also says that while the threat is often focused on dissidents and other opponents to the regime, there is also an increased threat to Jewish and Israeli interests in the UK.
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The report warns that while Iran has not developed a nuclear weapon, it has taken steps towards that goal.
It found that Iran had been “broadly compliant” with the 2015 Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), aimed at limiting its nuclear ambitions.
But since Donald Trump withdrew from that deal in 2018, the report said the nuclear threat had increased and Tehran “had the capability to arm in a relatively short period”.
The UK government is also accused of “fire-fighting” rather than developing a real understanding of Iran.
Image: Iran’s president oversees a parade in Tehran in April showing off the country’s military hardware. Pic: West Asia News Agency/Reuters
Image: Missiles are paraded through the capital during the recent National Army Day ceremony. Pic: West Asia News Agency/Reuters
The report says: “The government’s policy on Iran has suffered from a focus on crisis management, driven by concerns over Iran’s nuclear programme, to the exclusion of other issues.
“As one of our expert witnesses told the committee: ‘Strategy is not a word that I think has crossed the lips of policy makers for a while, certainly not in relation to Iran’.”
The committee concluded its evidence-taking in August 2023, the result of two years of work, but the report authors say their conclusions “remain relevant”.
But the report authors questioned whether UK sanctions against individuals would “in practice deliver behavioural change. Or in fact unhelpfully push Iran towards China”.
The committee also said the British government should consider proscribing the Iranian Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC), although some argue it would limit the UK’s ability to talk to and influence Iran.
Responding to the report, a UK government spokesperson said: “The government will take action wherever necessary to protect national security, which is a foundation of our plan for change.
“We have already placed Iran on the enhanced tier of the foreign influence registration scheme and introduced further sanctions against individuals and entities linked to Iran, bringing the total number of sanctions to 450.”
British security services say Tehran uses criminal proxies to carry out its work in Britain.
In December, two Romanians were charged after a journalist working for a Persian language media organisation in London was stabbed in the leg. In May, three Iranian men appeared in court charged with assisting Iran’s foreign intelligence service and plotting violence against journalists.
Earlier this year, the UK government said it would require the Iranian state to register everything it does to exert political influence in the UK, because of what it called increasingly aggressive activity.
The first thing you notice when immigration officers stop a possible illegal moped delivery driver is the speed in which the suspect quickly taps on their mobile.
“We’re in their WhatsApp groups – they’ll be telling thousands now that we’re here… so our cover is blown,” the lead immigration officer tells me.
“It’s like a constant game of cat and mouse.”
Twelve Immigration Enforcement officers, part of the Home Office, are joining colleagues from Avon and Somerset Police in a crackdown on road offences and migrants working illegally.
The West of England and Wales has seen the highest number of arrests over the last year for illegal workers outside of London.
“It is a problem… we’re tackling it,” Murad Mohammed, from Immigration Enforcement, says. He covers all the devolved nations.
“This is just one of the operations going on around the country, every day of the week, every month of the year.”
Image: Murad Mohammed, from Immigration Enforcement, says his team are attempting to tackle the issue
Just outside the Cabot Circus shopping complex, we stop a young Albanian man who arrived in the UK on the back of a truck.
He’s on an expensive and fast-looking e-bike, with a new-looking Just Eat delivery bag.
He says he just uses it for “groceries” – but the officer isn’t buying it. He’s arrested, but then bailed instantly.
We don’t know the specifics of his case, but one officer tells me this suspected offence won’t count against his asylum claim.
Such is the scale of the problem – the backlog, loopholes and the complexity of cases – that trying to keep on top of it feels impossible.
This is one of many raids happening across the UK as part of what the government says is a “blitz” targeting illegal working hotspots.
Angela Eagle, the border security and asylum minister, joins the team for an hour at one of Bristol’sretail parks, scattered with fast food chains and, therefore, delivery bikes.
Image: Border security and asylum minister, Angela Eagle, speaks to Sky News
She says arrests for illegal working are up over the last year by 51% from the year before, to more than 7,000.
“If we find you working, you can lose access to the hotel or the support you have [been] given under false pretences,” she said.
“We are cracking down on that abuse, and we intend to keep doing so.”
There are reports that asylum seekers can rent legitimate delivery-driver accounts within hours of arriving in the country – skipping employment legality checks.
Uber Eats, Deliveroo, and Just Eat all told Sky News they’re continuing to strengthen the technology they use to remove anyone working illegally.
But a new Border Security Bill, working its way through Parliament, could see companies fined £60,000 for each illegal worker discovered, director disqualifications and potential prison sentences of up to five years.
“I had them all in to see me last week and I told them in no uncertain terms that we take a very tough line on this kind of abuse and they’ve got to change their systems so they can drive it out and off their platforms,” the minister tells me.
For some of those who arrive, a bike and a phone provide a way to repay debts to gang masters.
There were eight arrests today in Bristol, one or two taken into custody, but it was 12 hours of hard work by a dozen immigration officers and the support of the police.
As two mopeds are pushed onto a low-loader, you can’t help but feel, despite the best intentions, that at the moment, this is a losing battle.
We see the boat from a distance – the orange of the life jackets reflected in the rising sun.
And as we draw closer, we can make out dozens of people crowded on board as it sets off from the shore, from a beach near Dunkirk.
There is no sign of any police activity on the shore, and there are no police vessels in the water.
Instead, the migrants crammed into an inflatable dinghy are being watched by us, on board a private boat, and the looming figure of the Minck, a French search and rescue ship that soon arrives.
Image: Minck, a French search and rescue ship, shadows the boat
The dinghy meanders. It’s not heading towards Britain but rather hugging the coast.
A few of the passengers wave at us cheerfully, but then the boat starts to head back towards the shore.
Image: Sky’s Adam Parsons at the scene
As it nears a different beach, we see a police vehicle – a dune buggy – heading down to meet it.
Normal practice is for French police officers to slice through the material of any of these small boats that end up back on shore.
Two police officers get out of the buggy and wait. A police helicopter arrives and circles above, performing a tight circle over the heads of the migrants.
The police think they might be about to go back on to the beach; in fact, these passengers know that most of them are staying put.
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The boat stops a short distance from the shore and four people jump out. As they wade towards the beach, the boat turns and starts to head back out to sea.
We see the two police officers approach these four men and have a brief conversation.
They don’t appear to check the bags they are carrying and, if they do question them about why they left the boat, it is the most cursory of conversations.
In reality, these people probably don’t speak French but they were almost certainly involved in arranging this crossing, which is against the law. But all four walk away, disappearing into the dunes at the back of the beach.