In a debate on the railways in Parliament on March 9, York’s Labour MP, Hugh Bayley, appeared to deny the impact of high rail fares on commuters by claiming that “one can get from York to London for £5 if one buys the right fare”.

Working people need to travel at peak times. We pay 88 per cent more for our season tickets than any other EU country.

This Labour Government, far from championing the cause of working people, allows rail companies to charge way above the rate of inflation for rail travel so that it does not need to spend tax revenues on the rail network.

The price of rail travel in this country is a national scandal when it is such an important factor in encouraging people off the congested roads.

Many who would love to travel by rail simply cannot afford to. A Government that does not support and encourage rail travel is not fit for purpose.

And does Mr Bayley really travel in the middle of the night and would his expenses really show only £5 a week for rail travel? I suspect not.

Susan Wade Weeks
Conservative Parliamentary spokesman for York Central, St Andrewgate, York.