Uber seeks talks with London mayor to renew licence

Tom Elvidge told a newspaper the ride-hailing app firm would “like to know what we can do”, but that would require talks with Transport for London (TfL).

It came as Labour and Britain’s biggest union heaped criticism on Uber – something Minister for London Greg Hands said was “astonishing”.

TfL says the company is not fit to hold a private hire operator licence.

Mr Elvidge, the firm’s London general manager, told the Sunday Times: “While we haven’t been asked to make any changes, we’d like to know what we can do.”

He added: “That requires a dialogue we sadly haven’t been able to have.”

A TfL spokesman said it would be inappropriate to comment further.

Uber has been asking to meet Sadiq Khan, the mayor of London, since his election in May 2016 but those requests have been rejected, according to sources close to the US company.

More than 680,000 people have signed an online petition in a bid to keep Uber operating in London after its licence expires on 30 September.

It has 21 days to appeal TfL’s decision and can continue to provide its services in the capital “until the appeals process has been exhausted” – a point Mr Khan reiterated in a response to the change.org petition.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/