RICHARD Leonard has been accused of “economic illiteracy” after repeatedly claiming a Scottish Labour government could introduce free bus travel for under 25s in a day.
The Scottish Labour leader said his party would start the scheme “on our first day in office”, without explaining how it would happen in practice..
There are currently around 1.25m people aged between five and 24 in Scotland who would potentially benefit from such a policy and would have to be identified and given bus passes.
Labour will today hold a Holyrood debate on free bus travel, urging the SNP government to deliver it by 2021.
READ MORE: Richard Leonard targets free bus travel for all across Scotland
At his recent party conference in Dundee, Mr Leonard said free bus travel should be extended to those below 25, then the entire population.
He said: “I am calling for an extension of the free bus pass to all under 25s within the lifetime of this parliament. And if the SNP won’t do it, we will do it on day one of an incoming Scottish Labour government.”
He repeated the promise on Saturday at a meeting of the Usdaw shop workers’ union, contrasting the policy with SNP-Green plans to let councils charge a workplace parking levy.
He said: “Scottish Labour will introduce free bus travel for all under 25s on our first day in office, with a view to extending it to everyone.”
The Herald asked Scottish Labour how the £26m scheme would work.
A spokesman said the current third-off concessionary travel scheme for 16-18 year olds with a Young Scot Card would have to be extended to cover all those aged five to 24.
That would involve extending the scheme to more than 1m new people, and increasing discounts from 33 per cent off to 100 per cent off.
In the whole of 2017, Young Scot issued fewer than 150,000 cards.
Applying for a Young Scot also involves several hurdles.
The youngest applicants - it is currently open to 11 year olds - go through their school, while those who have left school must have a completed form validated at a designated office and bring a passport sized photo, a form of identification and a proof of address, after which their forms are mailed to Young Scot for processing.
Asked if Scottish Labour still expected to deliver free bus travel to new users under 25 on its first day, a spokesman admitted the Young Scot application process may have to be improved, with more done online.
He said: “Under our proposals to extend this scheme up and down, I don’t see why kids as young as five wouldn’t be able to apply, or their parents applying for them.
“I think on day one we could extend the scheme and make it available to everybody. There’s nothing to stop a Scottish Labour government on day one extending the scheme as far as it can, and being open for applications as far as it can.”
An SNP spokesperson said: “This kind of political and economic illiteracy from Richard Leonard shows why Scottish Labour are tanking in the polls and fighting it out with the Tories to avoid third place in future Scottish elections. The reality of government would soon show promises like this to be little more than empty rhetoric.”
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