Labour Mayoral Candidate Bev Craig Unveils Bold Free Bus Plan Amidst High Expectations

Bev Craig, the current Leader of Manchester City Council and Labour candidate for Greater Manchester mayor, has unveiled a significant expansion of the city-region’s youth transport policy. If elected, Craig pledges to introduce free bus travel for all 11-to-18-year-olds across Greater Manchester, building upon the highly successful 'Our Pass' initiative.

Originally launched in 2019 under former mayor Andy Burnham, Our Pass currently offers free bus travel and discounted tram journeys to 16-to-18-year-olds, with eligible care leavers benefiting up to the age of 25. Craig's ambitious proposal aims to extend this benefit to high school pupils aged 11-to-16 across all ten boroughs of Greater Manchester, integrating it seamlessly into the region's newly unified, publicly controlled Bee Network. This expansion is designed to provide immediate financial relief to households, with the existing scheme already saving families approximately £500 annually per teenager. Extending it to younger children could result in cumulative savings of thousands of pounds for families with multiple school-aged children. Beyond financial benefits, the policy seeks to broaden horizons for the next generation, fostering early public transport habits and ensuring no young person feels left behind.

Craig's political philosophy is deeply rooted in her upbringing on the Greenisland council estate in Northern Ireland, a semi-rural area eight miles outside Belfast with limited amenities. This background, marked by her father's struggle to find work after an accident and her mother's multiple jobs, instilled in her a profound understanding of life on the periphery of a major city. She recounts realizing the extent of her family's financial struggles only upon attending university, having previously considered their circumstances "normal." This experience shapes her approach, allowing her to empathize with communities on the outskirts of Manchester grappling with unemployment, poverty, and inadequate housing. She explicitly states her refusal to label communities as "poor," preferring to highlight their inherent strengths and potential, and is driven by the desire to improve lives for those who work hard but see little improvement year after year.

During her five-year tenure as Manchester Council leader, Councillor Craig has overseen substantial achievements, including the largest house-building scheme in a generation, significant reductions in homelessness and child poverty, and leadership on economic, business, and inclusive growth issues as a deputy mayor in the Greater Manchester Combined Authority (GMCA). Having arrived in Manchester at 18 with little confidence, money, or connections, she credits the city for helping her thrive and grow, making it her home. She expresses a desire to give back and stand up for those without a voice.

Addressing the challenge of succeeding a popular figure like Andy Burnham, Craig remains undaunted, asserting her capability to forge her own path, much as she did when taking over the council leadership. She envisions a "dream team" scenario with Burnham as Prime Minister, advocating for increased devolved powers for Greater Manchester in areas like skills, apprenticeships, brownfield development, and house building. To counter potential perceptions of a Manchester-centric focus, she highlights her work in areas like Ashton and Middleton, and on Atom Valley, emphasizing her commitment to ensuring all towns, villages, and cities across Greater Manchester benefit from regional successes. Her broader policy agenda includes investing in high streets, ensuring access to affordable homes through flagship building programmes and support for renters, holding hospitality summits to boost local businesses, and re-focusing Greater Manchester Police on neighbourhood policing to tackle anti-social behaviour. She also pledges to continue expanding the Bee Network by freezing fares, introducing more bus routes and night buses, and pursuing the complex task of bringing trains under public control, with an aim for other cities, including London, to look to Greater Manchester as a model for transport innovation.

Despite her ambitious agenda, Craig acknowledges the recent May local election results, where Labour lost 24 seats in Manchester, attributing this to national political issues and public impatience for change. She sees this as a crucial lesson for the Labour Party. Nevertheless, she expresses confidence in her ability to work collaboratively across political divides, citing her past negotiations with a Conservative government and her strong relationships with leaders from various parties across Greater Manchester. She emphasizes the region's tradition of self-reliance and negotiation, a principle she learned in Northern Ireland, working with allies in unexpected places to secure the best outcomes for Greater Manchester. While often perceived as serious, Craig dismisses the notion of being "boring," aiming to use the mayoral campaign to reveal her authentic self and connect with voters by demonstrating her passion for putting money in families' pockets, making life more affordable and enjoyable, and creating a better Greater Manchester for everyone.