Uber should fight the ban

Rather than cave in, Uber should stand up to Transport for London and fight the ban, says Matthew Lynn – even at the risk of losing.

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Now who will challenge their monopoly?
(Image credit: 2011 Getty Images)

A few steps to placate the regulators.A grovelling apology. A sponsored stand at the next Labour Party event, and a generous donation to the mayor's next re-election campaign. No doubt the spin doctors and lobbyists for the taxi-app giant Uber are already coming up with lots of plans for reversing Transport for London's dramatic decision to ban its cars from the streets of the capital. That would be understandable. But it would also be a huge mistake. Uber should stand up to TfL and fight the ban, even at the risk of losing.

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Matthew Lynn

Matthew Lynn is a columnist for Bloomberg, and writes weekly commentary syndicated in papers such as the Daily Telegraph, Die Welt, the Sydney Morning Herald, the South China Morning Post and the Miami Herald. He is also an associate editor of Spectator Business, and a regular contributor to The Spectator. Before that, he worked for the business section of the Sunday Times for ten years. 

He has written books on finance and financial topics, including Bust: Greece, The Euro and The Sovereign Debt Crisis and The Long Depression: The Slump of 2008 to 2031. Matthew is also the author of the Death Force series of military thrillers and the founder of Lume Books, an independent publisher.