Nationalise the buses! Majority of Britons make demand as Labour plans public ownership
The Labour Party plans to allow communities to 'take back control of local bus services'
Getty
There have been calls to nationalise bus companies in the UK amid plans by mayors to bring these services into public ownership.
In their recent election manifesto, one of Labour's key policies was to nationalise the railways by bringing train operators into public ownership.
But a new YouGov poll shows the public is also supportive of nationalising bus companies, energy companies and water companies.
According to the data, 66 per cent of the public say bus companies should be run in the public sector, which is up from 50 per cent in 2017.
According to a poll, 66 per cent of the public say bus companies should be run in the public sector
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Buses are the most commonly used transport mode across the UK, but since 2010 Britain has lost almost 8000 bus routes, according to the Labour Party.
The Mayor of London, Sadiq Khan, is supportive of bringing London buses into public ownership stating in April that if re-elected as Mayor he would work with a Labour Government to establish a London Bus Company.
Last year Greater Manchester brought many of its buses back into public control under Mayor Andy Burnham.
Today half of Greater Manchester's buses are under local control, totalling 324 routes, with plans for all buses to join the Bee Network by January 2025.
This graph shows what areas the public thinks should be run in the public sector
YouGov
In April, Labour's shadow transport secretary, Louise Haigh MP, set out plans to allow every community across the country to take back control of local bus services.
Haigh said: "Four decades of disastrous deregulation of Britain’s buses has robbed communities of a say over the vital services that they depend on, instead handing power to unaccountable private operators who have slashed services.
“Labour will give every community the power to take back control of their bus services, and will support local leaders to deliver better buses, faster."
Britons are also supportive of nationalising railway companies with 76 per cent saying they support the move compared to 13 per cent who think it should continue to be run in the private sector.
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This level of support has substantially increased from when the same question was asked in 2017; only 60 per cent said railways should be nationalised and 25 per cent disagreed.
There is also widespread support for running utilities in the public sector with 82 per cent wanting water companies nationalised while the figure stood at 59 per cent seven years ago.
This follows widespread anger in recent months about record levels of sewage discharge and attempts by companies to pass the cost of fixing those issues onto consumers by charging them more.
There is a similar sentiment when it comes to energy companies with 71 per cent approving of nationalising them, which is a rise from 53 per cent in 2017.
The results for this data were taken from a YouGov study that surveyed 2211 adults in Great Britain from June 12 to 13, 2024.