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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

I love a bus hopper fare as much as the next person but enough is enough. Isn’t it?

80 replies

WallowingInMud · 18/08/2026 21:50

I’m a top tier fan of Labour and Andy seems like a nice bloke but:
a) He’s on social media so much I’m beginning to wonder if, once parliament is back from its little holiday, he’s going to have enough time to run our somewhat complex country between making reels.
b) every single bloody post appears to be about buses. Buses are great but I feel like there are other issues. World peace anyone?

AIBU?

OP posts:
dustabsorber · 19/08/2026 08:20

SomethingFun · 19/08/2026 08:19

I said cheaper not free. I don’t mind paying tax to subsidise bus fares (not companies, fares), far worse things for a government to be spending my hard earned on than getting people to work/ school/ hospital etc

It just means they have more money available for vapes/fags

SomethingFun · 19/08/2026 08:19

dustabsorber · 19/08/2026 08:06

Nothing is free though, it's just a case of someone else paying

I said cheaper not free. I don’t mind paying tax to subsidise bus fares (not companies, fares), far worse things for a government to be spending my hard earned on than getting people to work/ school/ hospital etc

dustabsorber · 19/08/2026 08:18

Flamingojune · 19/08/2026 08:13

Encouraging fewer cars is good for everyone

Congestion charges do that.

Flamingojune · 19/08/2026 08:13

Encouraging fewer cars is good for everyone

dustabsorber · 19/08/2026 08:06

SomethingFun · 19/08/2026 08:01

Making a necessity for millions of people a bit cheaper - what a dickhead! Can’t believe he’s done that instead of brokering world peace, pulling the sword out of the stone and scoring the winning goal in the World Cup.

Nothing is free though, it's just a case of someone else paying

WallowingInMud · 19/08/2026 08:06

It’s not just my bus friendy algorithm…(see image)

I love a bus hopper fare as much as the next person but enough is enough.  Isn’t it?
OP posts:
EasternStandard · 19/08/2026 08:04

UniquePinkSwan · 19/08/2026 07:59

Anything you don’t agree with is a plant? Wow. The left is insane

It always happens on any non Labour thread.

Re the op I don’t see any of his social media, I’m fine with that.

SomethingFun · 19/08/2026 08:01

Making a necessity for millions of people a bit cheaper - what a dickhead! Can’t believe he’s done that instead of brokering world peace, pulling the sword out of the stone and scoring the winning goal in the World Cup.

UniquePinkSwan · 19/08/2026 07:59

BanditTheCat · 18/08/2026 23:08

This is another post that stinks of being a plant by another political party

boring

Anything you don’t agree with is a plant? Wow. The left is insane

Sartre · 19/08/2026 07:58

I like it, it’s nice to have a PM who actually cares about the general public for once. Public transport does affect many people's lives so it isn’t an unimportant issue as some are making out. He did a great job as GM mayor and I have faith he’ll continue to be a great PM.

MyThreeWords · 19/08/2026 07:56

You do know that social media isn't the real world, OP? I doubt that cabinet meetings etc are overly dominated by buses, except when a loud one goes by on Whitehall when the windows are open.

Also, the only time he will be spending on 'his socials' will be when some minion ushers him very briefly between a camera and a bus.

Also also, are you sure the bus thing isn't you? I have never ever seen Burnham talking about buses. You have to be (a) on social media and (b) hitting the right algorithms to get the bus chat.

HPFA · 19/08/2026 07:50

The kids free over the summer is a Starmer/Reeves giveaway, along with removing VAT on attraction tickets.

The £3 single going down to £2 is Burnham.

He's clearly a better communicator than Starmer in conveying fun, I feel like Starmer would have responded more quickly to Stourbridge.

But glad to see him holding firm on Ukraine, which was one of my main worries about him.

saveforthat · 19/08/2026 07:44

RedFatball · 18/08/2026 22:51

I don't know if it's a Burnham policy but our local buses are free for children all summer and my 13yo DD has discovered she is, in fact, able to get herself around without needing a lift everywhere... it's been brilliant!

Ours too. Sadly the open top bus that goes along the coast has had to be suspended due to the behaviour of teenagers (urinating off the top amongst other things).

GeneralPeter · 19/08/2026 07:39

BelleEpoque27 · 19/08/2026 06:56

This is probably because Reform run whole councils now, and the risk is that they don't find price cuts. Because we all know they wouldn't.

But you can’t be for local power if your withhold it becuase the locals vote the wrong way.

Barbeasty · 19/08/2026 07:24

I hadn’t seen the press release about removing the time restrictions on the disability bus passes. But I’ll be honest, more important than the fact that someone will be able to use their pass to travel to work is the change in language and attitude to accept that people with a disability may well be travelling to work before 9.30am.

Givemeausernamepls · 19/08/2026 07:07

Two bus issues for me. One my city (and I’m sure several others) have shit transport public transport, it’s almost impossible to get across the city - think buses in the opposite direction to get another one in the right direction. There are only 2 an hour from the housing estate I live on and 2 all day Sunday!

second one, school bus. My kids school bus is £2.75 a day each way… It was £1.50 when DD started 3 years ago… and now I have 2 kids there!!! No £2 gap on school fairs and of course no public bus to take them. They’d have to go into town and back out again

LlynTegid · 19/08/2026 07:02

Bus and train fares are something you can change in days or weeks. Whereas most other things you can do to reduce the cost of living or make a real difference to people's lives take a lot longer.

I'd prefer the funds to be spent on more bus services, but extra buses and the drivers for them cannot be got in days or weeks.

BelleEpoque27 · 19/08/2026 06:56

GeneralPeter · 19/08/2026 05:05

There’s a lot of cool stuff he could do if transport is his thing. Local light rail and metros, and slashing the cost and approvals for big infrastructure would be PM-worthy achievements. But he also needs to decide whether he believes in local power or not. The power to set bus fairs is about as local as it gets and he’s pulled it into No 10.

This is probably because Reform run whole councils now, and the risk is that they don't find price cuts. Because we all know they wouldn't.

BelleEpoque27 · 19/08/2026 06:54

Clairey1986 · 18/08/2026 22:47

100% agree, the man is obsessed with public transport

What's wrong with that? Public transport is important and can make a huge difference to people's lives if it runs well and is affordable.

Better that he's obsessed with it than selling it off like the Tories.

concertinacornflake · 19/08/2026 06:02

WallowingInMud · 18/08/2026 22:57

But I do like Andy. I do like buses.

I am nothing if not thorough and I have reviewed the videos on his profile (rather than just waited for them to be delivered via Mr Algo) and a large percentage are about buses.

Fact

If you want to be very thorough, have a read about buses and voters.

Also read up on how voters in general tend to feel about improving the mundanities of life.

concertinacornflake · 19/08/2026 05:54

Politicians of all parties have done a lot of focus group over the last few decades and the small things that actually help everyday life for a group of people are popular.

Personally I want a PM that deals with both large and small, because both affect my life.

GeneralPeter · 19/08/2026 05:05

There’s a lot of cool stuff he could do if transport is his thing. Local light rail and metros, and slashing the cost and approvals for big infrastructure would be PM-worthy achievements. But he also needs to decide whether he believes in local power or not. The power to set bus fairs is about as local as it gets and he’s pulled it into No 10.

Bjorkdidit · 19/08/2026 04:29

Dameputtingonabraveface · 18/08/2026 22:03

I was looking forward OP to you telling us about how you use your day rider. Do you like a bus day ticket or not? If so, tell us your favorite routes and how you get value for money? As a driver who rarely uses buses, the cost is quite shocking. And I live in a major city (admittedly with the worst transport system of any city of this size in Europe). When a parent was dying I traveled down by train (high cost) and got the bus to the hospital, a daily ticket was nearly the cost of paying for the day in an NCP car park!

Waves to fellow Leeds resident?

Perhaps this is an example of 'don't try to run before you can walk' or a Government version of Maslow's hierarchy of needs? Ie don't try to do something really complicated until you've sorted out the obvious problems that affect people's lives day to day and have been neglected and mismanaged for decades, so are embarrassingly bad compared with other developed countries?

Beekman · 19/08/2026 04:14

I do find his social media a bit try-hard but I’m old and it’s not really aimed at me.

All we heard regarding public transport from Labour for donkey’s years was about trains so it’s about time buses, which I suspect affect more people outside London than trains do, were highlighted.

Activelife · 19/08/2026 00:01

Whats andy done so far nothing.
He got in went on holiday changed bus fair and loves SM and attention.
I think he will resign in a few months, he reminds me of teaser may get in fuck us up even more fill his pocket and walk out.