Labour
will overturn the Government’s ban on council-owned bus companies as part of a
wider strategy to put the public back into buses and deliver affordable,
greener, and accessible transport.

Labour
unveiled its bus strategy to put people not private profit first after figures
revealed that passenger journeys in England outside London have declined by 39
percent and by 53 per cent in English cities since 1986. But over the same
period in London, which kept regulation of bus services, passenger journeys
increased by 99 per cent.

Labour’s
policy includes a commitment to low emissions vehicles, Wi-Fi enabled buses,
improved joint and through ticketing schemes, mandatory disability and equality
training, and a commitment to introduce a national strategy for local bus
services, setting out objectives, targets and funding provisions, including
considering concessionary fares for 16-19 year olds.

Jeremy
Corbyn MP, Leader of the Labour Party, said:

“Labour
will create the freedom for councils to run first class bus services which the
public are proud of. The Tory legacy brought rising fares, plummeting passenger
numbers and too many areas where pensioners have a bus pass but no bus.

“Labour
wants to see local communities empowered to determine their own priorities and
reverse the decline in bus services. Labour will extend franchising powers to
all areas that want them and will overturn the ban on new community bus
companies, allowing Local Authorities to replicate the successes of the
country’s best performing operators.

“For
too long the bus industry has put profit before passengers. Labour will change
that.”

Andy
McDonald MP, Labour’s Shadow Transport Secretary, said:

“Buses
are by far the most important mode of public transport, connecting communities,
places of education and businesses like no other.

“In
supporting local economies, combatting climate change, addressing air quality
and tackling social exclusion, the importance of buses cannot be over-stated.
Yet funding for buses across England and Wales has been cut by 33 per cent
since 2010 and thousands of routes have been downgraded or cut altogether,
meaning passengers across the country have to put up with sub-standard
services.

“We
want to see clean, hi-tech fleets of buses running accessible and reliable
services that meet passengers’ needs. For this to happen, we need to give
communities the power to reform bus services to make them work for passengers,
as well as ensuring the funding and strategy is in place to ensure no
communities are left behind.”

Labour’s
policy would:

•                       
Create freedom for local authorities to form their own bus companies by
removing the Government’s ban.

•                       
Extend the powers to re-regulate local bus services to all areas that want them
– not just to combined authorities with an elected mayor.

•                       
Require all new buses to meet the low-emission requirements set out by the
Government-sponsored Office for Low Emission Vehicles.

•                       
Require new vehicles to be equipped with Wi-Fi, and install Wi-Fi on existing
buses.

•                       
Introduce a national strategy for local bus services, setting out objectives,
targets and funding provisions. This would include consideration of a reduced
fare scheme for young people aged 16-19.

•                       
Require all bus drivers and staff at bus terminals to complete approved
disability equality and awareness training, including mental and physical
disabilities, by a specific date.

•                       
Ensure bus services in England make adjustments for any disabled passenger on
the bus including policies for priority wheelchair spaces. 

Labour
leader Jeremy Corbyn and shadow transport secretary Andy McDonald are in Tees
Valley today (Friday) promoting Labour’s bus policy.

31 March 2017

The co-leaders of the Greens, Caroline Lucas and Jonathan Bartley, delivered a ‘special message’ to young people at their Spring Conference today saying that they offer a party interested in ‘moving forward, not turning the clocks back’. [1]

Speaking to their conference in Liverpool the co-leaders – elected last Autumn – promised action against an ‘extreme Brexit’, opposition to tuition fees and action to bring ‘private rents under control’.

Caroline Lucas said:

“Whether you voted Leave or Remain, you need a Party that will stand up with consistency, integrity and conviction for your rights. For young people in particular, let down by Brexit, the Green message is one of a more hopeful alternative. Young people deserve a Party that will say loudly and clearly: freedom of movement is your right, tuition fees must be scrapped and private rents brought under control. So today we have this message for young people in Britain. If you want a Party interested in moving forwards, not turning the clock back. A Party that’s honest about the challenges we face and brave enough to build a better, more hopeful country. Then come and join us – the Green Party.”

The Green Party – who are currently fighting hard in the Manchester Gorton after coming second there in the General Election – are aiming to appeal to young voters who are disappointed with Labour’s stance on Brexit – and who won’t trust the Lib Dems after their years in coalition.

Lucas said the Greens are ‘a political movement that redistributes both money and power. One that redefines the relationship between work and life. One that embraces the future.  Pioneering and forward facing. A future better balanced between what we own and how we experience life – and tipped towards what genuinely makes us happier.’

She went on to say that her party ‘is exploring policies like a 3 day weekend, and fair pay. Local banks for the public good. People powered renewable energy. Reclaiming houses as homes, not financial assets. Education as a universal right not a commodity.  Proudly defending and sharing the benefits of free movement.’

Speaking after the triggering of Article 50 this week, and the publication of the Great Repeal Bill White Paper, Jonathan Bartley said the Greens are the only party to truly understand environmental protection.

He said:

“In the story of our future, the environment must be centre stage. It has to be. And we are the only Party that truly understands that. That’s why the Green Party is demanding a new Environmental Protection Act. One that takes everything good about EU law and goes even further.”

Notes:

1. FULL SPEECH HERE.

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Nia Griffith MP, Labour’s Shadow Defence Secretary,
commenting on reports our Armed Forces are facing a £10bn funding shortfall,
said:

“This is deeply worrying, and the result of years
of mistakes and poor decisions made under the Tories.  

“The severe cuts imposed on the defence budget
since 2010 has led to countless knee-jerk decisions, like scrapping the Nimrod
maritime patrol aircraft, which has left us reliant on allies to track Russian
subs off the UK coast. 

“Last year we saw the Army shrink below 80,000
for the first time, far short of the Government’s manifesto pledge to keep it
above 82,000. 

"Further cuts of £1bn each year, to make up
for this mis-management of the defence budget, will do yet more severe damage
to our Armed Forces. Reports that the Royal Marines could be further cut are
particularly concerning. 

“On the Today programme, the Defence Secretary kept
referring to investment in equipment but he needs to be investing in our forces
personnel to ensure that professional standards remain high, and that they are
trained to be able to operate and maintain new kit. Our Armed Forces are driven
by the hard working men and women who serve and it’s time the Tories recognised
that.  

"It simply isn’t good enough for ministers to
say they can’t verify whether these reports are accurate. They
urgently need to get a grip and explain where they intend these savings to
come from.”

Barbara Keeley
MP, Labour’s Shadow Cabinet Minister for Social Care, commenting on
the CLG select committee report in to social care, said:

“This report is yet more evidence of government failure on social care.

"With less than 10 per cent of directors of adult social care confident
they will be able to fulfil their statutory duty to provide care this coming
year, it’s clear that the Government simply has not done enough to give social
care the funding it needs.

“The
underfunding of social care is hitting the care work force with nearly half of
all care staff on zero-hours contracts and hundreds of thousands of them
scandalously earning less than the living wage. And as the cuts to budgets
bite, we are seeing the number of people caring for family and friends unpaid
going up faster than population growth. This is bad for the family carers and
can put great strain on families. 

"The
Government should heed the recommendations from the committee and make sure
that their upcoming Green Paper does not rule any future funding options out.
 We need social care to be put on a long term sustainable financial
footing and we need an end to this on-going funding crisis.”