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Take away my guarantee and endanger free travel
• COUNCILLOR Keith Moffitt is wrong to say there is no threat to the Freedom Pass ( Free bus travel is safe with us, March).
The 28,000 older and disabled Camden residents who benefit from the Freedom pass should be in no doubt that there has been a sustained campaign to abolish my ability to guarantee the freedom pass. The umbrella group of the London boroughs – London Councils – has sponsored amendments by the Lib Dem peer Lord Bradshaw to abolish the mayoral guarantee of the Freedom Pass.
At present I have the power through the ‘reserve scheme’ to step in and guarantee the Freedom Pass for Londoners.
This means that no matter how much disagreement there is between the boroughs I can guarantee the Freedom Pass.
Cllr Moffitt gives the game away when he complains both about the cost to the boroughs of running the Freedom Pass, and that no other part of the country has a similar scheme to guarantee their free travel concessions.
Often concessionary travel schemes outside London are just limited to bus travel – which is hugely different to the free bus, tube, tram and train travel scheme London pensioners enjoy – or operate for shorter hours.
Bringing London into line with the rest of the country would certainly not represent a guarantee of the size and scope of the Freedom Pass.
In fact the differences between the London scheme and the rest of the UK are part of the reason that it is such a huge success.
It is claimed by London Councils that abolishing my guarantee of the pass does not constitute a threat to the concession, but in that case why abolish it?
My message is simple – if you don’t want to threaten the pass, don’t keep trying to abolish the Mayor’s guarantee.
As long as attacks on the Freedom Pass and other free travel schemes by London Councils, members of the London Assembly and peers persist, I will continue to speak up in defence of free travel schemes on behalf of all Londoners.
KEN LIVINGSTONE
Mayor of London
• GOOD old Camden Council let’s hit the most vulnerable people in the community: the pensioners and disabled people, with threats of taking the Freedom Pass.
Does that mean they will stop all free rides including children and most of the people that use the ‘bendy buses’ (known as the ‘free bus’).
I don’t know how Camden will allow children to continue to have free fares and discriminate against the pensioners and disabled.
Most of these people can not afford to pay full fare or will not be able to get about, and now Ken Livingstone has given all children 11 years and under free travel on the undergrounds.
J JORDAN
Redhill Street, NW1
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