ast week something interesting was decided in
Scotland. Given you were probably (correctly) washing
your hands at the time, you might not have heard.
In the annual budget statement, the Scottish
Government declared they would make bus travel across Scotland
freeforeverybody 18 and under. They’re aiming to begin in
January. It’s a bold move, though it’s already being decried as
gesture politics by opposition parties. Some £15m has been set
aside by the SNP administration to get things going. But the
Greens, who came up with the plan and pushed for it as a price of
helping the SNP get their budget through, calculate it will cost
£ 80 m a year. There is a gap to bridge. And there are significant
other growing funding issues around council services.
Still, it’s a smart move. Aside from the environmental benefit
of public transport against private, there is an issue of money.
It’s long been acknowledged that transport costs are barriers to
employment and social mobility for many of society’s poorest, and
youngest. This cannot make things worse.
There are schemes in pockets across Britain that allow for
reduced, and in some cases free, fares. But these are not joined
up.AndbecauseofThatcheritederegulationofbusservicesin
thelate Eighties,profitshavecome
beforepeople.Therearedozensof
independentoperatorsinBritain.
Facilecommentsaboutallowingthe
marketto balance itself don’tfly.
Manyoftheroutesremainviable
becauseofcouncilfundingassistance.
Andasthathasbeencut,someless
profitable – thoughessential– bus
serviceshavebeenaxed.
Aspartofhiscatch-allpledgeto
“level-up”Britain,BorisJohnsonpromised£5bnonbusandcycle
routesoutsideof Londonover the next fiveyears. How this shakes
downisunclear.There’snoguaranteethatsomeofitwon’tbe
usedtolookata fantasybridge/tunnelbetweenScotlandand
Ireland.Perhapsthisweek’sWestminsterBudgetwillgofrom
soundbitetodetail.
Johnson,it is said,loves big projects. He’s preparedto go hard
with £1 00 bn to makeHS2 a reality.
Whynotdosomethinghugetohelpthoseonthemargins?A
nationalfreetransportpledgeforthoseonlowincomeswould
makea massivepositiveboost.Itwouldallowpeopletotravelfor
necessaryworkwithoutfears over how theycould affordit. People
couldacceptjobstheypreviouslymayhaverefused.It’llhelp
themmoveonandup.
Governmentsfrequentlytalkbigandactsmall.Then,theyget
caughtina cycleofre-election,deliveringpoliciestheybelieve
willplaywellincertainareasofthepress,ratherthanpoliciesthat
actuallywillmakea demonstrable difference inlives.
Freebusesarenotthepanacea.Buta genuinechangein
thinking,a genuinedesiretomovebeyondshort-termism,willbe.
Clever winningand smartleadingare verydifferentthings.
Johnson,timetogetonthebus,daddy-o.EDITOR’SLETTER
L
PaulMcNameeiseditorofTheBigIssue
@pauldmcnamee
[email protected]Political
promises.
They’re
like buses
@bigissue
Water, water everywhere
A number of articles, reflections in the latest issue prompted me to get
in touch... first time I’ve done it though I’m a regular reader and get my
copy from Harvey who has his pitch on Pride Hill in Shrewsbury, who got
a shout out in the Issue. So another shout out for him and his husky-like
dog. He has become a positive presence in the town.
For a small town it has a surprising number of rough sleepers. I
wonder how they fared in the latest floods! Shrewsbury is a town with
many independent traders, with a thriving indoor market. I buy most of
our supplies from them including two “no plastic” traders where you can
fill your own containers and bottles.
It hasbeenbadlyhitbythelatest floodswithbothbusinesses
andhomesunderwater.I alsoattacha picturewhichformesumsup
ourcrazyambivalentworld(oftenreflected inyour magazine).In the
backgroundafloodedlandscapeand intheforegroundaplasticbottle
halffullofso-calledspringwater.Whowouldhavethoughtthatwe
wouldneedtobuywaterinpollutingplasticbottlesonanislandthat
hasan abundanceof thestuff!
Keepraisingtheissuesandhighlightingpracticalsolutions.I like
thefactthatyoudon’toversimplifyissuesandgivetheartsa positive
platform.Keep doingit!Anyway,apologiesfor myramblings.
KieranDuff,Shrewsbury
Theonlywayisup
Thankyoufor an excellentissue [February24-March1],especiallyfor
thearticlebyeditorPaulMcNamee:“Don’tclosedown”.Theuseof
languageaswellasthehealthythoughtsand themessageisgreat!
RichardPodger,Brecon
@CoveViewHoliday
Wehavethemostwonderful#BigIssuesellerinDevonwhois
alsoanoutstanding#singer.Allheneedsisa recordlabelandhe’llbe
atthe#BritAwardsnextyear.Butwemightnotgettohearhimintown
ever again–perhapswe shouldkeep himsecret? #TalentedGuy
@IMcMillan
Gotmy@BigIssuefroma vendoronNewStreetStation;that’ll
makethejourneyfly!
@peoplesbiz
“When communities are given a bit of space, they create fantastic
enterprises that respond directly to their own needs. That’s what we
need to do everywhere.” Great article from @BigIssue on why you
should feel hopeful about the high street.
Why not do
something
huge to help
those on the
margins?
09-15 MARCH 2020 BIGISSUE.COM|p 7