Miserable Day

A Cardiff University psychologist said that a combination of debts, cold grey weather, and the length of time since Christmas made 23 January the most miserable day of the year. And it was a Monday.

For councils burdened with free travel from April, the psychologist is likely to be right.

Nexus, the Tyne & Wear PTE, had already announced that a possible funding shortfall of £5.3mil would mean stark choices, and it even feared cutting back on school travel to help pay for free travel for elderly people. Hobson’s choice.

Nexus was joined yesterday by many other authorities worried that the money just won’t stretch, threatening loss making buses, cheaper rail travel, and other cuts. Some even warned of resultant local council tax hikes.

So, what’s gone wrong? Not enough money, they say, in spite of a government pledge of £350mil to cover 11mil elderly and disabled people.

Conservatives were quick to capitalise on these problems. They accused ministers of under-funding following a rushed, pre-election pledge that allegedly was designed to woo the so-called “grey vote”.

“This seems to be another example of a great announcement but when you read the small print it doesn’t add up to much” said the Tory transport spokesman. Some might argue that the government has missed an opportunity to create a national free travel scheme for England, rather than a local one.

But “not adding up to much”? We can’t help feeling that pensioners will think very differently. Next January, it might even make their Monday.