No, U.K. government has not announced 'free bus fares for immigrants'

What is the claim? 

Social media users are circulating a post featuring an image of U.K. Prime Minister Keir Starmer with overlaid text suggesting that the government has introduced "free bus fares for immigrants."

A Facebook user shared the image with the overlaid text stating, “It's obvious now why bus fares go up to £3. Shorty after they announced free bus fares for immigrants You are paying for there ride (sic).” 

The claims have surfaced following the recent increase in the bus fare cap to £3, which will remain in place until the end of December 2025.

The archived versions of similar posts shared on Facebook can be found here, here, and here. 

Screenshots of viral posts circulating on social media. 
(Source: Facebook/Screenshot/Modified by Logically Facts)

However, we found that the claim is false. The U.K. government has not introduced any such measures for immigrants.

What did we find?

We reviewed the U.K. Department for Transport website for any press release regarding free bus fares for immigrants but found no such announcement as claimed in the viral post. 

Logically Facts also examined the official transcript  (archive here) of Chancellor Rachel Reeves's autumn budget 2024 speech, in which the government announced that the bus fare cap would be set at £3 from £2 until December 2025. However, nowhere in the document does it mention that subsidized bus fares would be available for immigrants or any other specific community. The official budget document, available on the Department for Transport website, also does not state any such concession to immigrants. 

Although the national government has not introduced free bus fares for immigrants, the London Assembly members recently urged (archive here) London Mayor Sadiq Khan to help asylum seekers with affordable public transport. The Assembly calls on the Mayor to work “on ways to support public transport access for asylum seekers, such as with travel vouchers, to enable access to necessary journeys.” However, there are no reports of it being implemented.  

Furthermore, Oxfordshire County Council (archive here) recently, on November 6, 2024, introduced a six-month pilot bus travel scheme for asylum seekers to enable free bus travel within the city of Oxford. Similarly, the Scottish government also said that it will revive free bus travel for asylum seekers by 2026.

However, according to Amnesty International, asylum seekers are not the same as immigrants. Asylum seekers are individuals who have fled their country and are seeking protection from prosecution or human rights violations in another country while waiting for their asylum claim. In contrast, immigrants are ones who leave their home country and stay in a different nation in “search of job, study or to join the family.” They are neither refugees nor asylum seekers, as defined by the organization.    

Logically Facts also contacted the U.K. Department for Transport and was directed to a fact-check published by PA Media, a media house based in the U.K. and Ireland. The fact-check also concluded that the government had not introduced free bus travel for immigrants. 

We have also contacted Transport of London, a local government body responsible for the transport network in London, for a comment and will update the story as and when we receive it. 

 
The verdict

There is no evidence to corroborate that the U.K. government has introduced free bus fares for immigrants, indicating that the viral claims are false.