Labour accept cheque from bus billionaires
'Billionaire’ bus company owners James and Sandy Easdale, the latter of whom has previously served a prison sentence for fraud, have reportedly written a six-figure cheque to the Labour party ahead of May’s Scottish elections.
Given the pair’s ownership of McGills bus company and their outspoken opposition to public ownership of Scotland’s buses, the Scottish Greens believe this calls into question Anas Sarwar’s commitment to bringing the bus network back under public control.
Scottish Greens co-leader Ross Greer said:
“This is no longer a Labour party that stands up for the working class, it's a party of billionaires. Under Anas Sarwar and Keir Starmer, Labour has shown that it will bend over backwards to protect the interests of the super-rich and greedy corporations.
“The Easdales and a handful of others have made a fortune from the failed experiment that is the UK’s privatised bus network. Their company has collected tens of millions of pounds in public grants and subsidies from the Scottish Government in the last few years alone. Passengers have paid higher and higher fares, all while company bosses like these two have made a fortune.
“The Scottish Greens delivered free bus travel for young people and now we are working to bring our buses back under public control. Given who is now bankrolling Anas Sarwar, can he tell us what Labour’s policy is when it comes to bus ownership?”