Midlands retreat
Socialist Organiser1982 1982-01-21Read it in the scan (PDF), scan page 16 →
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Published by the Socialist Organiser Alliance, 28 Middle Lane, London N8, and printed by Fast End Offset (TU). Registered as a newspaper with the GiPO. Signed articles do not necessarily represent the views of the SOA. Midlands county councillor)
BUS FARES in the West Midlands will go up by 70 per cent from March Ist.
The flat rate 2p child fare is to be abolished, and plans for free travel for the unemployed will be ditched.
The 74-strong Labour group decided these drastic measures with only 7 votes against after legal advice that their cheap fares policy was probably unlawful. ' They caved in before even knowing the result of the court case brought against us by Solihull Tory council.
The fare rise could mean a cut in living standards of £3 or more a week for working people. The Law Lords judgment is clearly political, and must be fought in a political way, by mobilising the labour 1 movement against Heseltine's Bill and the Tory cuts.
The County Party, though backing the Labour group's climbdown, has agreed to call a labour move. ment conference on fighting Heseltine, and the same debate will be fought out there.