The App Drivers and Couriers Union's own account says members and supporters gathered outside Wayve Technologies' headquarters in King's Cross on Saturday 17 October 2026. TaxiFeed had already reported the plan that morning, including the union's demand for a halt. ITV News carried the comments from the pavement.
What Hadi told the Press Association
The Press Association quoted Abdurzak Hadi, 50, from London, who has driven for Uber for more than 12 years, wants the rollout stopped completely, and asked Mayor Sadiq Khan to set out where he stands: "I feel like I've been treated like an old car that's not needed any more, that's exactly how I feel, like: 'We can get rid of you now, we're going to get a brand new car that's going to do something different.' And I'm not a car, I'm a human being. So it's going to have an impact on my livelihood. It's going to have an impact on a lot of drivers in London who are actually will be forced to go and compete with a machine that could work 24 hours, and it will be very difficult for us to compete with that machine." "Speak out, because a lot of people are going to be impacted currently as Londoners and these are the people you promised to protect in every aspect."
The call for the mayor
Brent councillor Amandine Alexandre, of the Green Party, told the Press Association: "I think he made some comments which makes me think that he's probably not very enthusiastic about robotaxis but he hasn't come out firmly against them when he has come out against the expansion of Heathrow Airport. I think that we are facing a similar situation there with robotaxis because it's going to really change London for the worse, and we still can decide that we don't want them and we shouldn't have them."
ITV noted that the mayor's office had been contacted for comment.
Collateral damage, and the numbers
The Press Association reported that the union, an organiser of the protest, described drivers as "collateral damage" and called for them to be compensated. The union's own write-up does not use that phrase. It records a day of action about jobs, livelihoods, public safety and congestion, and it repeats the call for an immediate halt until there is a just transition plan.
Reports of the turnout do not match. ITV put the gathering at around 20. BBC News put the peak at about 15. The union's account gives no figure. Neither number is an official count.