Labour’s Fare Betrayal: Starmer Takes £520 a Year Out of the Pockets of Workers Travelling by Bus

Labour Continues to Hit The Workers.

In a move that would make Margaret Thatcher proud, Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer has announced that bus fares will rise to £3, abandoning the previous £2 cap with all the careful consideration of someone who’s never had to count pennies for their weekly commute. This isn’t just about an extra pound per journey – it’s about the hollowing out of Labour’s soul, one policy retreat at a time.

Let’s pause to appreciate the exquisite irony: here we have a Labour leader who, while wearing the sackcloth of fiscal responsibility like a banker’s pinstripe suit, speaks of “defending tax rises” and embracing the “harsh light of fiscal reality.” Yet this harsh light seems to shine exclusively on the pockets of working people, never on the corporate profits of bus companies or the tax havens of the wealthy.

The mathematics of betrayal is simple enough. For a worker making two journeys a day, five days a week, this £1 increase amounts to an extra £520 annually –. This from a Party that once promised to put “working people first.” First in line to pay, perhaps.

About 3.4 million people in England use buses. There had been speculation in recent days that the chancellor would announce in the Budget on Wednesday that the current cap would be scrapped.

This would have meant that some passengers faced a steep hike in fares following two years of help.

Bus fares in London with Transport for London will, however, remain at £1.75 and those in Greater Manchester at £2.

They are excluded from the broader fare cap as their funding is structured differently.

The Confederation of Passenger Transport said that raising the cap from £2 has avoided travellers facing a “cliff edge” at the end of this year.

But it said: “An increase to £3 will still present challenges for many passengers, particularly those who rely on buses as their primary means of affordable travel.”

Greenpeace suggested lifting the cap was a “‘tough decision’ the government didn’t need to make”.

“It makes no political, economical or environmental sense whatsoever,” said Paul Morozzo, Greenpeace’s UK’s senior transport campaigner.

He said buses are a “critical lifeline to millions of people, particularly those on lower incomes”.

“A government that was truly prioritising the needs of the poorest in society would rethink this decision at the first opportunity,” he said.

Former Newcastle Mayor Jamie Driscol states: “A 50% price hike on people going to work, kids getting to school or college. Why disincentivise sustainable travel? Or are we going to get a load of briefings that some bus passengers are millionaires and can afford it? We’ve crossed the threshold where Sir Keir’s Labour government is more regressive than Mr Sunak’s Tories. If you want to support progressive independents and build an electoral alliance, get in touch.”

What makes this particularly galling is the timing. As Britain grapples with a persistent cost-of-living crisis, with inflation still pinching purses and energy bills remaining stubbornly high, Labour chooses this moment to burden those who can least afford it. The very people who depend on public transport – shop workers, cleaners, care workers, the backbone of our society – are now expected to shoulder yet another financial burden.

The environmental implications are equally troubling. At a time when every serious climate scientist warns of the urgent need to reduce private car usage, Labour’s policy effectively incentivises people back into their cars. The message is clear: environmental consciousness is a luxury reserved for those who can afford it.

This isn’t just a policy misstep – it’s a manifestation of modern Labour’s identity crisis. Under Starmer’s leadership, the party seems to have confused fiscal responsibility with fiscal conservatism, mistaking the management of public finances for the withdrawal of public support. The ghost of New Labour’s “Third Way” haunts these decisions, but without even the pretence of social democracy that characterized the Blair years.

What’s most concerning is the pattern this represents. From the Two-child cap to robbing pensioners’ of their fuel allowance. And of course his backing away from the £28 billion green investment pledge to this latest transport betrayal, we’re witnessing the systematic abandonment of policies that could meaningfully improve working people’s lives. Each retreat is justified with the same technocratic hand-wringing about “fiscal reality” – a reality that somehow never requires sacrifice from those at the top.

The “harsh light of fiscal reality” that Starmer speaks of reveals something far more concerning than budget constraints – it illuminates a Labour Party that has lost its way, replacing class consciousness with class capitulation. When a Labour leader defends raising transport costs for working people while corporations post record profits, one must ask: what exactly is Labour for?

This bus fare increase isn’t merely a policy decision; it’s a metaphor for modern Labour’s direction of travel. The destination appears to be a place where “putting working people first” means first in line to bear the burden of every economic adjustment, every fiscal reality, every harsh light that needs bearing.

Paul Knaggs