James O'Brien on why disappearing rural bus services shows state of UK politics

A report by HuffPost UK about the loss of a Sunday bus service in Staffordshire and the isolation it can create in rural communities sparked a compelling segment on James O'Brien's LBC radio show today.

The presenter was inspired to launch into a monologue about how this sad situation is a result of the way politics and society have gone over recent years.

He said: "Nobody speaks for these people. Ever.

"Even Jeremy Corbyn, for all his sincere concern for the less fortunate, never addresses what it would be like to be under house arrest in your own home, to be stranded in 21st century Britain.

"And the reason it happens is quite frightening. It's the definition of the destination of many vested interests are taking us at the moment. The idea that if it's not commercially justified, if it's not something that business wants to do, then it shouldn't happen at all. This is what these people who work for groups like the ludicrously misnomered Tax Payer's Alliance. They all hinge on this idea that business should essentially run everything. It's why they talk about small states, low tax, low regulation economies."

"I reject that idea completely.

"Britain is built on the idea that you pay into a pot without any guarantee that you will take out as much as you put in. It's in case you end up living in a corner of the country that is well-served by public transport at a time that you lose your driving licence or you can't afford to run a car.

"You've been paying into a system in a way that if you need it, it is there. That's the opposite of where politics is going. If you need it, it is there."

In the HuffPost UK article Amardeep Bassey illustrates how shrinking local budgets and life under austerity is affecting people's daily lives. One of those interviewed for the article on the loss of Sunday bus services, 80-year-old Jocie Lucas, told HuffPost UK: "I've lost some of that independence to travel where and when I want, and now I have to rely on lifts from family.

"I'm in other people's hands, so that takes away some of the fun."

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