Greens Back Re-regulation of Buses and Question SNP Bus U-turn
Sun., April 22, 2007. 10:37.
Only by first voting Green will Scots get world-class public transport and better bus services.
Following reports in the Sunday Herald today(1), the Scottish Green Party has criticised the SNP for dropping its commitment to bus re-regulation from its manifesto. The omission of the policy came just weeks after a donation to the SNP by its main financial backer, Stagecoach boss Brian Souter. (2)
Greens say that re-regulation of the bus network is a 'vital link' to deliver world-class public transport and greatly improving bus services across Scotland. (3) They also criticised the Libdems and Labour for making no clear commitment to re-regulating bus services.
The SNP included a firm and unequivocal commitment to re-regulate Scotland's buses in their 2003 manifesto. (4) The policy was affirmed again at the party's 2006 conference in a motion that began "The SNP recognises the failures of bus deregulation across Scotland and reiterates its support for re-regulation of Scotland's buses." (5)
Greens believe the Tory de-regulation of the buses has proved an utter failure over the last twenty years, with companies like Stagecoach competing over the profitable city-centre routes, while lifeline services to rural areas have either been greatly reduced or cancelled altogether.
Mark Ballard, Green speaker on Transport, said: "I'm very concerned that when Brian Souter's cash appeared in the SNP bank account, the commitment to re-regulating the bus network almost immediately disappeared from their manifesto. At best this is a downgrading of a vital policy. At worst it could be cash for policies.
"Our bus services are a mess and re-regulation is an important priority which Greens thought they shared with the nationalists. The SNP's membership will be rightly concerned. They made the right call at their conference just last year. It is obvious that questions would be raised with the Nationalists' election campaign being bankrolled by an individual who has made enormous wealth from the de-regulated system. The SNP should put the people of Scotland first, and reinstate their policy.
"The Lib Dems are equally inconsistent on this - their 2006 conference backed re-regulation, but their 2007 manifesto has no mention of it. Labour talk about "modernised regulation", but this is code for inaction, not re-regulation. The Labour-led Executive has made only token improvements but Scotland's buses will never be fixed with their tinkering and trimming at the edges. Clearly anyone who wants better buses and a better Scotland will need to first vote Green on 3rd May."
Notes to editors
1.See: http://sundayherald.com/news/heraldnews/display.var.1346656.0.0.php
2. Brian Souter's £500,000 donation to the SNP was made on 17 March 2007. On 18th of March, SNP deputy leader Nicola Sturgeon said it came "with no strings attached". The SNP 2007 manifesto was published on 12th April 2007.
The only two mentions of bus transport in the 2007 SNP manifesto are on p.36, and read as follows:
"Park and Ride Schemes have been terrifically successful. The SNP in government will require each city to provide its strategy within 6 months of the election showing what they will do to enhance Park and Ride provision by bus or train or both, in their area.
We will also pilot a new scheme to tackle congestion during the school run. In Edinburgh school pupils will be given free bus travel before and after school to encourage greater use of public transport. This will include £4 million investment in modern buses, as a more effective alternative to to the Edinburgh Trams scheme."
3. Extract from the Scottish Greens' manifesto on regulation of buses:
“The deregulation of bus companies is stifling the development of an integrated country-wide coach and bus network. We will re-regulate bus companies in order to support marginal services and ensure that missing transport links are identified and provided.”
4.The SNP's 2003 manifesto made the following commitment on p.22:
"Tory de-regulation of buses has not been a success and neither has New Labour's attempts to deal with the situation in Parliament. Services are inadequate, especially in rural areas, while in urban areas 'bus wars' have been allowed to develop in which the most popular 'commuter' routes are flooded with buses at the expense of services on less profitable routes. The SNP will bring forward legislation to allow the regulation of buses and ensure that service provision matches need and is of high quality to make public transport an attractive, reliable, and affordable option."
5. The text of the motion is here: http://bellgrovebelle.blogspot.com/2007/03/snp-cant-be-bought.html
Stuart Stevenson refers to the motion here: http://snp.org/blogs/annual-conference/posts/4
Go to www.scottishgreens.org.uk for more information about the Scottish Green Party and the work of the Scottish Green Party.
Contact the Scottish Greens' press team on 07909 933 074.