Aside from debates as to what actually constitutes a ‘working person’, the Labour government does ostensibly seem clear as to whom it wants to shield in the forthcoming Budget: the less well-off and those who continue to struggle financially. It is therefore perverse that it should remove a benefit that has been a blessing to precisely that demographic: the £2 cap on bus fares.

The government looks set to be making another long-term error

This measure, an initiative of the last Tory government, was introduced last January and implemented in England outside areas that already have devolved powers over transport. It’s been an invaluable aid for those who use the bus to go to work, school or college, especially the young and poorer sections of society who don’t own a car and can’t afford the train where viable. It’s helped already long-suffering rural communities, for whom bus services have long been an imperilled asset.

This matters little to the bean-counters. The cap is reputed to cost the Treasury £350 million a year, with every £1 spent to support the cap generating 71p to 90p in benefits. An analysis by the Department for Transport has found it is ‘not........

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