Bus fares England's cap will rise from £2 to £3 - PM

The bus fare cap in England will rise from £2 to £3 at the end of this year, Keir Starmer has said, as Rachel Reeves prepares to raid transport funding in this week's budget.

- Kiran Stacey

The prime minister told an audience in Birmingham that the money to fund the £2 cap would run out at the end of 2024 and that the Labour government would not be able to keep it at the same level after that.

The decision by the prime minister and chancellor comes despite heavy lobbying by Labour's elected mayors to keep the cap in place, as revealed last week by the Guardian. Starmer insisted yesterday that working people would welcome such decisions as a necessary part of fixing the public finances after 14 years of Conservative government. "The Tories only funded the £2 fare cap until the end of 2024, and therefore that is the end of the funding in relation to the £2 bus fare," Starmer said.