Glacial pace of bus pass ban - Sue Webber
Dragged kicking and screaming to agree-ment, the SNP Government has been forced to accept the will of the majority of MSPs that free bus passes should be withdrawn from people guilty of repeated anti-social behaviour and serious offences.
A vote last week approved new powers for the removal of concessionary passes, but now we must wait for Transport Scotland to put a system in place and who knows how long that will take after it said it was still in development.
But they knew it was likely to happen, so the procedures should have been ready to go, but instead we have been told that a new Code of Conduct will be ready later in the year.
It’s very hard to understand why there should be a delay because the rules have already been drawn up and they amount to only a couple of paragraphs. I get the distinct impression the government is looking for problems and not treating this as a matter of urgency.
Meanwhile, the teenage thug who killed Elgin bus driver Keith Rollinson will still qualify for free travel when he completes his sentence and the connectivity minister Jim Fairlie still can’t say if the killer will lose the privilege.
It would beggar belief if he was still able to enjoy a free ride after taking the life of an innocent, hard-working bus driver, but the SNP takes us all for a ride when it talks about tackling crime and anti-social behaviour. And we all have to pay.