Judging by the myths, misinformation and misrepresentation, it is probably just as well more members did not attend this second reading debate on the Bus Services Bill that does nothing to reverse funding cuts
It is not often that MPs get a chance to talk about buses in Parliament. The 2017 Bus Services Act — ready for the mayoral election in Greater Manchester in May — has provided a fascinating insight into what MPs and peers make of the country’s most used form of public transport.
Sadly, listening to their pontifications has filled me with despair at not only the poor perceptions they hold but also the outlandish negative claims they make about service provision.
‘Residential estates left completely isolated’; ‘bus routes abandoned at no notice’; ‘old people unable to attend clinics’; ‘young people unable to attend college’ and so it went on for the best part of 5hr during the second reading debate in the House of Commons in March.
Many MPs began their speeches by referring to the importance of buses, trotting out the well-worn fact that they are used by more passengers than all the other modes put together. It was a delight that time was being made available to discuss buses rather than HS2, HS3 o…
