Tourist tax or more government cash for public buses, says Andy Burnham

Greater Manchester’s mayor Andy Burnham has floated the idea of a tourism tax as a means of helping fund stronger bus services across the country at Labour conference in Liverpool.

Speaking at a LabourList event brought in partnership with We Own It, Burnham lauded the success of Manchester’s new integrated Bee Network, citing statistics showing 60 million journeys in the first year – a 5% increase on the deregulated system.

He also made the case for greater public ownership of transport infrastructure, claiming it would ultimately prove greater value for public money.

Burnham said: “We know times are hard, and I would be prepared to look at other things like a tourist tax or other things to kind of raise money, if that helped to sort of keep the pressure off the Treasury, but we must have a long term revenue stream to support bus improvement outside of London.”

The event’s panel discussed the arguments for greater public ownership of bus services across the country and the failures of the services’ privatisation.

Matthew Topham, lead campaigner of We Own It, described it as a ‘wild west market’. He added: “Things like integrated ticketing or cross subsidy of services become increasingly hard for bus companies to even do if they were interested in doing it.”

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North East Mayor Kim McGuinness also made the case for deeper investment in public transport, arguing that it wasn’t just about transport but also about creating economic and employment opportunities.

McGuinness further emphasised the importance of integration in public transport systems, saying: “Do you know it isn’t really very normal in anywhere other than London to change modes of transport? But it doesn’t make any sense that it isn’t.”

Transport has been one of the flagship policy focuses of the Labour election platform this year, with pledges to bring the railways back into public ownership after decades of privatisation.

Burnham added: “For those who’ve got worries about it from a financial point of view, the message from Greater Manchester is don’t worry so much.

“You do have to find those one off costs but this is a superior system when it comes to making it sustainable over the long run.”

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