Gordon Brown Introduced Free Bus Passes For The Elderly

[Gromit]

In a cynical ploy to woo elderly voters, the Labour leader brought in free bus travel for OAPs back in 2008.

Good to see that Boris liked the Labour policy so much, he is now claiming credit for it. Chalk that up ‘Tory lie of the week’.

[ToraToraTora]

donkey, stop wriggling do you take the bet or not?

[DonkeyHoaty]

You won’t accept mine so as I said I’ll politely decline your piffling offer, generous though it is.
Stick your £20 on Johnson still being the PM on the eve of the next election. I imagine the odds on that must be staggering.

[naomi24]

Juggling governments and local authorities to see which suits you best, you seem terribly confused, Gromit. If you attribute an extension of the scheme to a Labour Prime Minister you really should acknowledge that the original was introduced when a Conservative government was in office. You've shot yourself in the foot so often I'm surprised you can still walk!

[ToraToraTora]

"Gordon Brown Introduced Free Bus Passes For The Elderly" - well many illiterate souls would say that's a porky gromit but as you know, I know what a porky actually is. Your Belief turned out to be wrong, that's all.

[ToraToraTora]

donkey: "Stick your £20 on Johnson still being the PM on the eve of the next election. I imagine the odds on that must be staggering. " - ok, are you offering odds?

[DonkeyHoaty]

I’m not a bookmaker but here is an indicator.

https://www.gambling.com/news/how-long-will-boris-johnson-last-as-uk-prime-minister-2024000

[DonkeyHoaty]

But don’t forget, we still have the results from tomorrow to come, along with the parliamentary investigation into him and the Gray report.
The Tory party is running out of time to get rid of him if they want to save themselves, there’ll be many discussions about it over the weekend no doubt.

[ToraToraTora]

ok thanks, so you are still not convinced that Boris will be gone next Wednesday? Well not enough to put your money where your mouth is. Right oh! another Paper Tiger!

[ToraToraTora]

donkey: "But don’t forget, we still have the results from tomorrow to come, along with the parliamentary investigation into him and the Gray report. " - ok take the bet now then!

[Gromit]

If you were fortunate to live in a big city, then you may have had free travel in the 1970s. But most people don’t.
Johnson did not introduce it in London, the Labour GLC did. Gordon Brown rolled out the scheme nationally in 2008.
Johnson’s interviewer never said Elsie was a Londoner, so what he did or didn’t do ten years ago was a misleading answer.

[Gromit]

Do you have a gambling addiction Tora ?

Yo can get help.

[ToraToraTora]

no, I rarely gamble. I just use betting as a way to smoke out those that spout BS without actually believing it enough to back it with their own money. To me it's not really gambling it's my way of testing the veracity of the opinions of others and indeed my own.

[ToraToraTora]

"Johnson did not introduce it in London, the Labour GLC did. Gordon Brown rolled out the scheme nationally in 2008. " - he extended it in 2012 for 60+, see above, twice!

[jno]

the Freedom Pass "is actually something that I introduced", says Boris.

Well, is that true or false? As far as I can see, he did not introduce it; it was introduced by a local authority before Boris had even got to Eton. So it's not true.

[Gromit]

Your wasting your time jno.

[Gromit]

You’re wasting your time jno.

[Redhelen72]

Freedom Pass is a concessionary travel scheme, which began in 1973, to provide free travel to residents of Greater London, England, who are aged 66 and over (the age of eligibility increased progressively from 60 in 2010 to 66 in 2020) or who have a disability. The scheme is funded by local authorities and coordinated by London Councils. Originally the pass was a paper ticket, but since 2004 it has been encoded on to a contactless smartcard compatible with Oyster card readers.

[DonkeyHoaty]

Probably just another case of Johnson believing his own lies.
https://www.thenational.scot/news/20109947.boris-johnson-brags-bus-passes-gmb-grilling-cost-of-living-crisis/

[237SJ]

What he actually said was that he introduced the 24 hour Freedom pass.

[naomi24]

//In 2012, when Mr Johnson was London mayor, he introduced a bridging pass that allowed someone who turned 60 to gain the free travel privileges as a pensioner up until they receive a Freedom Pass.

It is this that he is claiming to have introduced in his ITV interview. //

https://inews.co.uk/news/politics/freedom-bus-pass-boris-johnson-tfl-pass-pensioners-london-1607636

For goodness sake stop nit-picking. It's ridiculous.