The App Driver and Courier Union’s Zamir Dreni and Cristina Ioanitsecu

• I AM afraid that I am one of those thousands of people who frequently shout and curse the guys on bikes, scooters, motorcycles and cars and vans, mostly because they were driving dangerously and illegally: on pavements, over pedestrian crossings and even the wrong direction on roads, (Your friendly but heavily exploited delivery drivers, May 2).

I also recall waving two fingers at one van driver on my road clearly doing more than the 20mph limit. He slammed his brakes on and leapt out of his cab jumping up and down shouting obscenities, of course, the gist of which were: “I’ve got a load of deliveries to make before 5pm so get lost”.

And I think I coined the word Deliveroonatics to describe them, so I’m a bit late apologising to them.

This incident did make me think about the issue and realise what the drivers are up against. So I’m glad to see the App Driver and Courier Union is trying to get some sanity back and make sure that the drivers are treated properly.

But when you know that a large part of their deliveries are fast-food “meals” costing less than a tenner, you know they are not going to get decent pay. I even saw one guy outside a speciality Chinese tea shop putting two mugs of tea in his delivery box, which, er, takes the biscuit!

I derive a tiny amount of satisfaction from this in realising there are people lazier than me; but no doubt many of those are working-from-homers who don’t own a kettle and can’t be bothered to take 10 minutes to walk to the nearest fast-food joint, possibly because they, too, are working under lousy conditions and pay.

I gave up on UK politics when the Low Pay Commission – set up in 1997 by Tony Blair’s Labour government – “celebrated” its 25th anniversary with millions still paid below even the lousy minimum wage, showing what a toothless body it is.

And, of course, prime minister Rishi Sunak and the rich Tories – who introduced their version of a living wage about two-thirds of the real one – don’t care a jot about the situation, as Britain sinks into third-world serfdom.

Come on Sir Keir Starmer, start getting angry about something!

Meanwhile I urge all delivery drivers to obey the traffic laws and to ride or drive safely.

Your lives are at stake too!

DAVID REED
Eton Avenue, NW3