PM Thanks Harrogate & Knaresborough MP Tom As Bus Pass Restrictions For Disabled People Set To Be Scrapped
"It has been good to work with you on this, Tom" - Prime Minister credits Lib Dem Harrogate & Knaresborough MP as disabled bus pass restrictions set to be scrapped.
Tom Gordon and Liberal Democrats celebrated at a local bus depot today, as Labour's Mayor of York and North Yorkshire also acknowledged the MP's near two-year campaign.
Tom Gordon, the Liberal Democrat MP for Harrogate and Knaresborough, celebrated with local Liberal Democrats and Disability Action Yorkshire at a local bus depot today, after the Government confirmed it will scrap time restrictions on disabled people's bus passes from April next year - the policy Tom has campaigned on since February 2025.
The change means disabled pass holders will be able to travel free at any time of day. In North Yorkshire, passes have not been valid until 9am, locking disabled people out of the buses they need to get to work, to college, to hospital appointments and to the school run.
The MP was joined at the depot by Jackie Snape, Chief Executive of Disability Action Yorkshire - the charity whose members first raised the 9am rule with Mr Gordon at a constituency event in February 2025, and which has campaigned alongside him since.
The announcement drew cross-party recognition of the campaign. Prime Minister Andy Burnham, who adopted the policy in Greater Manchester after attending a parliamentary reception hosted by Mr Gordon and Whizz Kidz in December 2025, posted: "It has been good to work with you on this, Tom."
David Skaith, the Labour Mayor of York and North Yorkshire, said: "Credit where it's due to Tom Gordon MP who has been calling for this for some time now."
The cross-party acknowledgement follows a hard- fought campaign of almost two years. In September 2025, Labour MPs - including Heidi Alexander, now Secretary of State for Transport - voted down Mr Gordon's amendment to the Bus Services Bill, which would have made the same change. He was due to table a Ten Minute Rule Bill when Parliament returns next month, forcing MPs to vote on the issue for a second time.
Tom Gordon MP said:
"Standing at the local bus stop this morning with local Lib Dem councillors and with Jackie and her team, it hit me what two years of campaigning has actually won: disabled people in Harrogate, Knaresborough and across the country can now get on the bus whenever they need to.
"Disabilities don't start at 9 o'clock, and soon neither will disabled bus passes.
"I'm grateful to the Prime Minister and to Mayor Skaith for their generous words. It shouldn't have taken this long - Labour MPs voted this down less than a year ago - but I've always said I’m willing to work with anyone who’ll roll up their sleeves and help get it over the line, and I meant it.
"This win belongs to the disabled people who told me what these restrictions were costing them, to Disability Action Yorkshire, Waterside Changemakers, Transport for All and Whizz Kidz, and to the Liberal Democrat councillors and campaigners across the country who kept pushing."
Jackie Snape, Chief Executive of Disability Action Yorkshire, said:
"We are absolutely delighted that the time restrictions on bus passes for disabled people are to be removed.
"This will make such a difference to disabled people needing to use public transport for work, education, appointments - and getting on with life in general.
"We are indebted to Tom Gordon MP, who has fought to have this changed with such compassion and tenacity since hearing first hand from local disabled people how it has adversely affected their lives. What an amazing result!"
