Bus Services (No. 2) Bill [Lords]

Richard Holden Excerpts

2nd reading
Monday 2nd June 2025 Commons Chamber

[Mr Richard Holden (Basildon and Billericay) (Con)]

One of the things that feels so pernicious about scrapping the national “Get around for £2” bus fare cap is that, while certain parts of the country that were given long-term settlements under the last Government—sometimes of up to five years—have been able to maintain the cap, large parts of the country have not been able to do so. Does that not go to show that the last Government were prepared to work with people from all political parties, but this feels particularly pernicious because it is really targeted at areas that have not traditionally been Labour-supporting?

[Gareth Bacon]

As always, my right hon. Friend gets to the heart of the matter, and I have to say that I agree with him.

I would like to make one thing abundantly clear from the outset: we do not oppose franchising in principle. When implemented properly, franchising can be a powerful mechanism for improving services, addressing local transport challenges and delivering the quality services that passengers rightly demand and expect.