Now more than ever, it is time for adult discussion of the Department for Transport consultation into permit use and the resulting changes that are coming to community transport.
There remains a degree of misunderstanding of the issue, and it is largely stoked by ill-informed politicians such as Gareth Thomas MP (pictured).
Mr Thomas has waded in with little knowledge of the situation. He has thrown around allegations and rhetoric in a bid to discredit the group that was behind the decision by the DfT to send its now-infamous letter in August last year.
That group has made it clear that it will seek a judicial review if EU Regulation 1071/2009 is not enforced. Its threat should not be taken lightly. Its members have spent a lot of money to get to where they are now. Make no mistake, they will not back off at the final hurdle.
Fortunately, most politicians are taking a more mature approach than Mr Thomas. They don’t like the prospect of change, but they are dealing with it in an adult way.
Name-calling and allegations of dubious substance have no part in the current process. That’s something that a minority involved in it would do well to remember.
