Pensioners will keep their free bus passes, a Cabinet minister confirmed ahead of the Budget.
Transport Secretary Louise Haigh made the pledge after the cuts to the winter fuel payments for most pensioners.
Asked by former Cabinet minister Ed Balls on ITV’s Good Morning Britain whether the free bus pass for pensioners would remain while she was in her job, Ms Haigh said: “I will always work to protect passengers and bus fares and I can absolutely assure your viewers that concessionary bus travel will remain.”
But pressed by Susanna Reid to be more specific, that pensioners will keep their free bus pass, she added: “Yes.”
Asked to give a guarantee that that would be the case throughout the Parliament, she responded: “I can’t confirm that I’ll be Transport Secretary throughout this Parliament so I don’t think that’s fair to hang that around me.
“But I can confirm to you that I will protect the concessionary bus travel.”
Ms Haigh was being grilled on the subject after the Government cut winter fuel payments for all pensioners, apart from those receiving pension credit.
Chancellor Rachel Reeves has warned of more “tough” decisions ahead on tax rises and more public spending cuts in the Budget.
Taxes which could rise include inheritance tax, capital gains tax, and reform to pension tax relief.
Before the election, Labour ruled out increasing VAT, income tax or National Insurance, the three main revenue raisers for the Treasury.
With billions protected for the NHS and defence, other departments including local government, justice and the Home Office could face spending cuts.
Ms Reeves argues that the drastic action is needed to plug an alleged £22 billion black hole in the public finances, which Labour says it inherited from the previous Tory administration.
However, former Chancellor Jeremy Hunt has strongly rejected her argument.
Leading economists warned before the election that neither main party was being open with voters about the state of the public finances, though that they were worse than expected.
The wider economy is not in such a dire situation, compared to the public finances which were hit by Britain, like many other countries, being rocked by the Covid pandemic and Vladimir Putin’s war in Ukraine.
Sir Keir Starmer and Ms Reeves sought at Labour’s annual rally in Liverpool last month to strike a slightly more upbeat note, having warned repeatedly of the difficult economic decisions ahead, by also arguing that once they are taken they will lay a path to rebuilding Britain’s public services and raising living standards.
However, it is yet to be seen if Labour can deliver its landmark reforms to boost economic growth and provide the extra funding for public services.
