Special report by PEOPLE’S WORLD
Latest editorial
Free bus travel – fanciful idea or radical ambition?
The Scottish Labour Party announced at its conference in March its plan to introduce free bus travel across Scotland. PAT RAFFERTY assesses the feasibility of the idea
RADICAL FUTURE: Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn (right) and Scottish Labour leader Richard Leonard
NICK WRIGHT considers how the isolation of Israel and a new film on the controversial Italian communist leader are creating new reference points for Italy’s left
CARLOS MARTINEZ says Cuba’s achievements in the face of a criminal blockade are startling, but the island’s future if the United States succeeds in crushing it looks bleak
AMNON BROWNFIELD STEIN reports that far-right MPs who mobbed the event organised by Hadash may have helped raise awareness of the brutality of the Israeli right
Born on this day in 1931, the heroic revolutionary faces a dangerous new wave of White House aggression. We must treat his birthday as a rallying cry to resist the illegal siege of Cuba, writes ROGER McKENZIE
RAMZY BAROUD decries the rats of Gaza, the rodent and human type. Both abound as profiteering from tragedy reaches obscene levels
MUCH has been made of Richard Leonard’s keynote speech at the Scottish Labour Party conference in March when he announced a Labour government would introduce free bus travel across Scotland. His proposals have been dismissed as a fanciful idea by some and a radical and bold ambition by others.
In considering whether an alternative, free, municipally provided bus service is financially viable, we need to consider the basic running costs versus the present subsidy and the case for common ownership.
In 2017-2018 Scottish bus companies received £298 million in subsidy from local and central government, yet neither the Scottish government or travelling public have any real say on how, where or when buses are run.
Similar stories
Years of underfunding are eroding Scotland’s local services and deepening inequality in communities, says VINCE MILLS
Cuts are sweeping campuses as cash-strapped universities slash staff and politicians fail to act on a growing funding emergency. VINCE MILLS reports
As bus builder Alexander Dennis threatens Falkirk closure and Grangemouth faces ruthless shutdown by tax exile Jim Ratcliffe, RICHARD LEONARD MSP warns that global corporations must be resisted by a bold industrial strategy based on public ownership