Local Transport Bill [Lords]

The matters before us today do not relate to Northern Ireland, but I turn the question back on the hon. Gentleman. If he is so sure about regulation, why will not the Conservative party revisit the matters devolved to the City of London if—and that is an uncertain if—it returns to government? The Bill is about ““Putting Passengers First””, which was the title given to the original proposals. That title should not be forgotten. The Bill is about giving more local control to bus users up and down the country—not just in London, but in all our areas. It is particularly aimed at those living in metropolitan areas—often including quite considerable rural areas, too—where the need for re-regulation is at its greatest. Local control is a form of devolution that I would have thought that the Tory party would have been keen to pursue. I thought that the Conservative party was now the party that believed in local control and in giving local people more say in how their services were delivered. The responses given by the hon. Gentleman to my interventions exposed what I think to be the true Conservative position. That position is unreconstructed and unmodernised and is based totally on dogma rather than an appreciation of what is pragmatic and what will deliver for local people. [ Interruption . ] The hon. Gentleman may laugh, but passengers in Sheffield, South Yorkshire, Manchester, Greater Tyneside and all such areas would not be laughing if a future Tory Government repealed this legislation.