‘Difficult to see how public are going to gain’

MIKE SMITH, address supplied

I was interested to read the recent letter from Fran Postlethwaite, a self-styled revolutionary socialist member of the Socialist Workers Party, now a staunch supporter of Thatcherism and continuing privatisation of our buses.

Her support for the frankly bizarre ‘solution’ by Oliver Coppard to the Kingstone 22 services avoiding the medical centre as a drop-off point is as puzzling as it is ineffective.

As usual with Mr Coppard, it involves heaping yet more thousands into the pockets of the private bus companies, though I see he and Ms Postlethwaite haven’t said how much.

A four-hour window for a couple of buses at a time – when access to GPs is severely limited – will do little.

As I live in the area and use the 22s, and 43/44, I’m well aware that the changes are badly thought out.

With Mr Coppard’s main cheerleaders now fully on board, a franchise which specifically excludes public ownership by any council, and by extension the SYCMA, it’s difficult to see just how the public are going to gain.

The 1985 Bus Act is pure Thatcherism, as is the 2017 Bus Act introduced by that wellknown revolutionary socialist, Jesse Norman, a Conservative MP which kept the very spiteful and damaging bus privatisation now so heartily supported by this curious coalition.

I’ve called on both Dan Jarvis and Mr Coppard and the 11 Labour MPs to challenge the two acts as deregulation, enhanced partnerships and advanced quality partnerships have been massive social, environmental, economic failures.

But in evidence-free Labour La La Land actually standing up for publicly-owned and run bus services is too much of an effort.

Much easier to pretend franchising is bringing buses into public ownership when it’s nothing of the sort – just another shabby sleight of hand so favoured by those who are elected to represent us but don’t.