Public control of buses might not be a panacea but neither is privatisation - Yorkshire Post Letters

Taking buses back under public control "is not a panacea" according to Bus Minister Richard Holden (TYP, September 8).

Neither was deregulating them in the 1980s but his political grandads went blundering on with it. They were emboldened by 'grandma' Thatcher's proclamation that "if a man is still using public transport at 25, he is a failure".

The die was cast and on a downwards trajectory so far as passengers were concerned. Back to cars and ever more road chaos.

Belatedly and through gritted teeth, today's Downing Streeters are starting to admit that the supposed miracles of those times are still not working well for the eponymous public and an election looms. We have the most inadequate and expensive public transport in Europe.

Thirty-odd years late, its restoration requires serious commitment and investment and soon.

Something much more proactive than Richard Holden's graciously "not standing in the way of" a return to public control.