Latest News and Events

Kent’s rail and tube commuters stand to lose out by £7.30 per day. This follows the pandemic-era bailout arrangements forced on Transport for London by Rishi Sunak.

Perhaps easily missed amid years of political shenanigans, but TfL has been ordered by the government to find an additional £500mn to £1bn of new income-raising measures. In an effort to find the savings, TfL have announced that the all day London travelcard is at risk of being axed – representing a new front in the cost of living crisis.

While Sunak was Chancellor, he undoubtably needed to spend a lot of money to keep the country running through Covid. As we saw from the failed multi-billion Test & Trace and PPE procurement programmes, not all of it was spent well. But it was a crisis, and for the sake of our nation’s elderly and vulnerable, he cast the economic safety net far and wide. Of course, we all followed the rules and stayed at home.

Lockdown emptied London-bound commuter trains. Only essential workers rode the capital’s buses and tubes. Right across the country, fare revenue from public transport cratered. Yet, while Sunak rode to the rescue of Southeastern and the other train companies with financial handouts, Transport for London’s bailout packages came with strings attached.

In return for rescuing TfL, Sunak demanded that its owner, the Labour Mayor of London, take a devil’s bargain.

The Tories ordered that the Mayor repay the bailout by extending the ULEZ zone to London’s outer boroughs, raising fares above inflation, and increasing council taxes for Londoners.

Tonbridge and Malling MP Tom Tugendhat – who serves in Sunak’s government – isn’t kidding anyone with his cynical campaign to ‘save the travel pass’. If Tom really cared, he would lobby his boss to end this pointless war against TfL, or resign from the government.

The all day London travelcard is a lifeline for out of town commuters. But for the Tories, it’s just another sacrificial lamb.

Rishi Sunak’s political games and pointless factionalism once again are putting household budgets at risk. This time it’s Kent commuters, to the tune of £1,900 extra a year.