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Gordon MP Welcomes Climbdown by UK Government on Football Bus Plans
Gordon MP Richard Thomson has welcomed the climbdown by the UK Government on draconian plans for football supporters’ matchday buses which would have seen a range of restrictions introduced on where the buses can stop and what time they can arrive at fixtures.
Senior Traffic Commissioner for Great Britain, Richard Turfitt, said in a statement:
“I have listened to the strength of feeling expressed and it is clear to me that there is further work required to understand the full impact of the introduction of any proposed guidance in Scotland. As a result, I have asked my officials to cease this consultation exercise.”
Welcoming the reversal, Richard Thomson MP said:
“A great many people in Scotland attend games every year and pour money into the local economy while doing it. Scottish football is something to be celebrated and perhaps it is time for consideration about how football fans are treated more broadly - we can't even watch our international games for free while English and Welsh fans can.
“This consultation was ill-thought out, reeked of snobbery and spoke volumes of the contempt in which the UK Government hold our national game.
“In referring to travel to ‘away games’, it simply did not recognise the realities of Scottish football, and in the North-east in particular, where buses are often arranged to go to home games from rural areas just by reason of basic geography, to say nothing of the impact these draconian plans would have had on the hospitality trade.
"This is a victory for every Scottish football fan who stood up and made their voice heard loud and clear.”
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