Comrade Corbychev's Cock-Ups

Day6 It begs the question: what would Corbyn do, if anything?

That should be all over the media, given he is the leader of the largest political party in the country.
You could ask why you have to go to Independent Media websites to find anything !

Day6 would do as he does at the thought of any military intervention ......nothing.
That doesn’t mean that the opposite way is the best, but sometimes an intervention is definitely called for.
In this case it has to be well thought through.

yggdrasil I agree it should be all over the media. However, Corbyn needs to let the media know what he would do, journalists are not psychic. The only press release today has been about free bus passes for the under 25s.
I would welcome any politician, from any party, putting forward a strategy.

I thought the free bus passes was a joke, he really said this Primrose ?

Absolutely Annie. It's only for England though, and only where the bus service is not privately owned. I think it's one of those policies where people think they're getting something but realise later that it won't make a blind bit of difference to them personally. I think everyone in London would get one, as the private companies run under a contract managed by TfL.
Perhaps they should rebrand it as 'free transport for young Londoners'?

He doesn't think outside of London

The free bus travel for under 25s will make a huge difference to families with children. The fare cost of public transport for that group can be prohibitive and therefore the family car is normally the chosen method of transporting the whole family about.

However, if the children travel free then the bus becomes a much more viable option. Better for road congestion, better for the environment and better quality time for the whole family.

Certainly in regard to summer visitors here in the South West it may well mean we can all move about more easily at that time of the year, if it is brought into being.

So, great idea I believe, let's wait to hear more details.

All bus services are privatised in my area, so sounds a good idea but ..... not in the countryside where young people are most isolated.
London Transport also offers the very generous “Freedom Pass” to pensioners. All good ideas but why not nationwide?

I think most bus services are private companies mostly. The only area where there would be full coverage is London, that I can see. I'll be interested to see what the IFS make of this - I imagine the true impact is that the rest of the country will subsidise London. I'm not sure how well that would play with voters.

It's for 18-25s Grandad, so no difference for children - it's young adults.

18 to 25 can vote

Thanks for that information Primrose. Shame it's not for younger children as that would be a great help to families and bring children up familiar with using public transport.

Not seen much news in deph in last 48 hours, heard some rumor about a war LOL

My DD is in London and spends a fortune on travel, this would be great for her, so expensive just to be there, maybe people outside London aren't as concious of that.

humptydumpty, spent a great deal of time in London during my career as three of our main customers had their offices in the Holborn/city area. I would have to agree that many living outside the Southeast of England do not realise just how expensive public transport is there.

London, free bus passes , = May elections

Am I mistaken in what the proposed Free Bus Travel for under 25's entails.

A). It will only apply to Under 25's where the local authorities introduce public ownership of bus services or franchising . In other words only authorities that oversee the removal of privatised bus companies/services in their area and shift to Public Ownership ( eventual Nationalisation no doubt).

B) The cost , which is being challenged as too low, will be £1.4bn a year by the end of a five-year parliament, with franchising or municipalisation of services likely to be staggered. It will be funded by using ' about ' a fifth of the income from vehicle excise duty revenues, forecast to be £6.7bn in 2021, which the present government has currently allocated to road building.

Alongside taking the funding out of the vehicle excise duty revenue Labour would " widen the hypothecation and use the pledge of the shadow chancellor, John McDonnell, for a £250bn National Transformation Fund to pay for road building, to be paid for by government borrowing.".

C). I am very happy to be challenged on my next point but is the Transport for London scheme a working image of what Labour is proposing?

If so doesn't Transport for London already have a £1 BIllion deficit ?.

London Mayor Khan said he was “delighted at this promise that the next Labour government will enable us to provide a huge extra boost for the capital by offering free bus travel to all under 25's”.

Am I being cynical but would he not be ' highly delighted' for the government to fund Free Bus Travel for under 25's in London not from his budget.?

D). It may not be a universal Free Travel for Under 25's in England but the 'spin' is good. It certainly is not 'Free' to the public purse and it will most likely only happen in larger Towns and Cities if they decide to purchase/run/staff/provide the bus service themselves .

As I say happy to be challenged on my thought as it is a proposal under scrutiny at this early stage so I may be wrong.

That's my understanding of it too POGS, I think you're spot on.
humptydumpty I'm not sure why your DD spends a fortune on travel in London - public transport here is really cheap, I think. Bus fares are £1.50 and you can use buses for an hour for that - change buses, even use it for a quick return journey. All fares are capped to a daily and weekly maximum too if you use the same card or an Oyster.

My son now works in London and delights that travelling by bus is much cheaper than it is in his home town, over a hundred miles away from London. At 28 he'd query why he wouldn't be eligible for free bus travel.

This is a cynical ploy, Corbyn's 'everything's free' policy aimed at young voters. " Over here kiddies. Loads of freebies" like his student loan lies. It's so obvious it's beneath contempt. Most young people in that age group are unlikely to debate any of the pertinent points raised by POGS, above.

grandad I’ve always found bus travel in London very cheap compared to the rest of the country.
I don’t disagree with this new Labour policy but it should apply all over the country. Our senior bus passes can be used on privatised or publicly owned bus services all over England. Why not use the same system for under 25 bus passes?

Yes, London, free travel, announced just before May elections.
Rather hedged about by caveats in practice though by the sound of it.

He made his announcement at a school 6th form, the students cheered and chanted '.oh Jeremy Corbyn'

Out in our village, we probably won't have any buses much longer anyway, free or not, now that our council is effectively bankrupt! Mind you, there won't be any usable roads soon either at the rate they are disintegrating around here.

Same here MamaCaz. Our bus services have just been axed after 18.30 each evening, leaving anyone trying to get home from work to pay for a taxi or be stranded. I don't get a bus pass for another 2 years but I don't expect there's going to be any bus services left by then. Could St Corbyn of Transport come to our rescue too or does he only work miracles in London?

I think Corbyn is auditioning for the evil Child Catcher role in Chitty Chitty Bang Bang. Had to watch it with DGS recently. He lures children with all sorts of promises.Wish I could post a pic.

He is chasing young voters , they have no knowledge of his past and see a sweet grandfather figure promising lots of goodies.

Bus fares in our nearest city, Manchester are cheap as chips. You can do 3 miles for £1, a journey which in our town would cost £3.
We need the cost of public transport reduced, more frequent buses and trains, along with better infrastructure. We need that much more than a new rail line that takes 10 minutes of a journey to London.