Gregory Stafford MP has accused Labour of treating rural communities as “second-class citizens” on transport, warning that higher fares, wasted money and poor services are hitting families in Surrey and Hampshire.
Speaking in a Commons debate on regional transport inequality, Gregory said Labour had “failed rural Britain in just one year”, pointing to the decision to scrap the £2 bus fare cap, nationalise South Western Railway at an unnecessary extra cost of £250 million, and continue to prioritise London over the rest of the country.
“My constituents will remember: Labour put up their fares."
Gregory contrasted the capital’s transport system - with buses every 5 to 10 minutes and more than 100 night services - with the reality in his constituency, where services are often 30 to 90 minutes apart and disappear after 7pm. He highlighted how students at the University for the Creative Arts in Farnham cannot get to Guildford in the evening, while Londoners benefit from round-the-clock provision.
He also set out the practical improvements previously raised at the Bordon Taskforce and working with Stagecoach. The service 18 now runs every 30 minutes on weekdays and Saturdays and hourly on Sundays, while service 13 has been expanded with six Sunday return journeys. Discussions are ongoing for a new style of patient transport service modelled on the recent success of the Hospital Hoppa he helped launch in Farnham.
On rail, Gregory attacked the decision to pour £250 million into nationalising South Western Railway while commuters in Farnham, Haslemere and Liphook face cancellations and overcrowding.
“Too many times, peak-time trains arrive with just four coaches. When I challenged South Western Railway, I was told that to avoid cancellations nearer London, they reassign carriages away from my area.
He pressed SWR directly over the delayed rollout of the Arterio fleet, which remains largely out of service due to driver shortages and technical faults.
Turning to electric vehicles, Gregory warned that government policy was written for “London and Birmingham, not Surrey and Hampshire”, with rural areas facing weak grid capacity, scarce charging points and unaffordable vehicles.
Concluding his speech, Gregory said:
“Levelling up, economic growth, net zero - all laudable aims - means anything if millions of people cannot get a bus on a Sunday or a train with more than four carriages on a Monday morning. That is the reality of Labour’s transport policy: higher fares, wasted money, and broken promises.”
