Local MP Bell Ribeiro-Addy and Lambeth councillors today (18 September) joined young campaigners in Parliament Square to back the campaign to keep free Transport for London (TfL) bus travel for under-18s.
Young campaigners went to Parliament Square to lobby MPs as part of a national day of action to try to stop the suspension of free travel by the government.
Scrapping free travel for under-18s was a condition of the government’s £1.6 billion assistance for TfL, which is suffering major revenue losses during the pandemic.
TfL initially resisted the change, but has since suggested that it could come in during half-term.
The changes would cost the average family £15 extra per child per week – £585 over the course of a school year.
Bell Ribeiro-Addy, the Labour MP for Streatham, whose constituency takes in parts of Brixton, said: “I’m proud to support Child Poverty Action Group’s Don’t Zap the Zip campaign.
“As we saw with the government’s shocking handling of exam results, young people have been on the sharp end of some terrible Tory policies during this pandemic.
“The government shouldn’t be leaving young Londoners and their families to shoulder the financial shock of Covid-19, especially going into winter.
“They must reverse their plans to force TfL to scrap free under-18 travel.”
