Labour pledge to introduce free bus travel for under-25s
- Text by Michael Segalov
- Photography by Theo McInnes
Tonight, the Labour Party announced a new policy – to fund free bus travel for under 25 year olds across the United Kingdom. The move could benefit up to 13 million young people living in Britain, and according to the party this would help under-25s save up to £1,000 a year. The policy, the party says, will be paid for using money ring-fenced from Vehicle Excise Duty.
Labour estimates the cost of the policy to be around£1.4bn per year at the end of a five-year Parliament. Free bus travel would be offered to young people in areas where local authorities introduce bus franchising, or move to public ownership of their local bus services. This, they say, will support and incentivise local authorities to create municipally owned bus companies, run for passengers not profit, which research conducted by Transport for Quality of Life has found could achieve annual savings of £276 million per year.
“Young people deserve a break,” Jeremy Corbyn – Labour leader – is expected to say tomorrow on a visit to a sixth form in Derby on Thursday. “Nearly eight years of Tory austerity have hit their incomes, their chance to buy a house and their career opportunities.”
“Labour wants to help young people make the most out of life by investing in them, which is why today we are pledging the next Labour government will provide the funds to cover free bus travel for under 25s, to support them to travel to work, to study and to visit friends.”
From the scrapping of the Education Maintenance Allowance (EMA) to cuts to youth services across local authorities in Britain, austerity has often hit young people the hardest. With the Conservative Party struggling to drum up support amongst young voters – polling from the 2017 General Election suggests Labour got three times more votes than the Tories amongst 18-25-year-olds – Labour are setting out to make a bold offer to young people.
“Our policy provides help where it is most needed, Corbyn will continue. “On average, children, young people and households with children each have less disposable income than working age households without children. Young people also tend to be in lower paid, more insecure work, and they spend a higher proportion of their income on travel. Giving them free bus travel will make a huge difference to their lives.”
Greater use of public transport reduces congestion, air pollution and carbon emissions, according to research, with the Labour Party hoping that free bus travel for under 25s will help generate lifelong increases in public transport use.
The policy, Labour says, will be funded through Vehicle Excise Duty revenues – equating to 21% of VED revenue, which is forecast to be £6.7 billion in 2021-22.
Enjoyed this article? Like Huck on Facebook or follow us on Twitter.
Latest on Huck
Vibrant photos of New York’s Downtown performance scene
‘Balloons and Feathers’ is an eclectic collection of images documenting the scene for over two decades.
Written by: Miss Rosen
Picking through the rubble: Glimpses of hope in the US election results
Clambering through the wreckage of the Harris campaign, delving deeper into the election results and building on the networks that already exist, all hope is not gone writes Ben Smoke.
Written by: Ben Smoke
US Election night 2024 in Texas
Photographer Tom “TBow” Bowden travelled to Republican and Democratic watch parties around Houston, capturing their contrasting energies as results began to flow in.
Written by: Isaac Muk
In photos: “Real life is not black and white” – Polaroid x Magnum Open Call winners
See pictures from the competition organised by two titans of contemporary photography, which called upon artists to reject the digitalisation and over-perfectionism of our modern world, technology and image-making.
Written by: Huck
In photos: Rednecks with Paychecks
‘American Diesel’ is a new photo series that looks at the people, places and culture behind the stereotypes of rural America.
Written by: Ben Smoke
How do you solve a problem like the music industry?
Beyond the Music is a conference and grassroots festival bringing together people from across the industry to try and grapple with the biggest issues facing it.
Written by: Ben Smoke