London’s Uber ban hurts passengers, drivers and the whole British economy

Drivers of black cabs fear losing business to Uber
Drivers of black cabs fear losing business to Uber
JAMES GOURLEY/REX/SHUTTERSTOCK

‘When I arrive in my car, give me a hug and get in the front passenger seat.” Those aren’t words you expect to hear from an Uber driver but until recently if you tapped a button on your phone and summoned a vehicle to pick you up from Lisbon airport, you’d often be given those strange instructions.

Uber drivers in Portugal — overwhelmingly young people and immigrants — were being physically attacked by old-school taxi operators, so they started asking passengers to pretend they were being picked up by a friend, meaning they were less likely to get beaten up.

It was a shrewd survival tactic but also a reminder of how incumbents will fight — violently, if necessary — to keep out competition and