FREEDOM PASS IN LONDON

That this House welcomes the success of the Freedom Pass in London, which provides freedom to travel for hundreds of thousands of older and disabled Londoners on the tube, Docklands Light Railway, bus and tram and helps protect the environment by encouraging the use of public transport; notes the tabling of amendments to the Concessionary Bus Travel Bill by Liberal Democrat Lord Bradshaw which would abolish the reserve scheme for the Freedom Pass; deplores the comments of Conservative councillor Phil Taylor that the scheme should be `re-targeted' away from most pensioners to the `very old' and that users of the scheme are `recipients of largesse'; believes that the Freedom Pass is a valuable scheme that should be maintained; and supports unions, pensioner groups, disability groups and the Mayor of London in defending the Freedom Pass.