![\"Easdales](\"https:\/\/dailybusinessgroup.co.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/09\/Easdales-with-McGills-bus.png\")
A bus firm owner has accused First Minister John Swinney of behaving like a dictator over his government\u2019s plans to bring buses under public control.<\/p>\n
Sandy Easdale, who owns McGill\u2019s with his brother James, said Mr Swinney \u201cappears to have transformed into the next Idi Amin or Robert Mugabe\u201d and noted that \u201cboth men bankrupted their countries through catastrophic financial policies.\u201d<\/p>\n
Mr Swinney told the SNP conference on Saturday that buses would be brought under public control by 2031 through franchising and regulation, with a Bill tabled in Holyrood next year.<\/p>\n
It is understood regional transport partnerships will be set up to have greater control over routes and fares without the government having to actively own the buses.<\/p>\n
Mr Easdale was said to be \u201cincensed\u201d by the announcement and pledged to fight \u201cin every court in the land\u201d to stop the SNP reversing Margaret Thatcher\u2019s deregulation of the industry 40 years ago.<\/p>\n
Ralph Roberts, chief executive and director of McGill\u2019s, said in a television interview that the Easdales had invested in local services.<\/p>\n
\u201cMcGill\u2019s has never been publicly owned,\u201d he said. \u201cThere is nothing to \u2018bring back\u2019 into public control in our case.\u201d<\/p>\n
Mr Roberts argued that removing an operator\u2019s ability to run the network it had established and putting services out to competitive tender amounted to \u201cbusiness confiscation\u201d and accused the SNP government of failing to engage in dialogue.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou can understand why the owners refer to African dictators because that\u2019s how it feels from their perspective.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019ve put forward a number of different alternative ways for the authorities or government to take control of bus services if that\u2019s what they want to do.\u201d<\/p>\n
Deputy First Minister Jenny Gilruth promised to work with bus companies on the plans. Speaking on the same show, she said: \u201cFundamentally, we\u2019re trying to protect our people, and across the country just now we see a number of routes having been removed.\u201d<\/p>\n
Ms Gilruth said the current private bus model was \u201ca legacy of Thatcher\u2019s time when she took away that opportunity for there to be direct intervention from the state\u201d on bus routes. So we\u2019re going back to an approach that better protects people.\u201d<\/p>\n
She mentioned Lothian Buses, which is publicly-run, as an example of good practice.<\/p>\n
The Easdales are major donors to the Labour party which is taking railways in England into public ownership.<\/p>\n
At the SNP conference, Mr Swinney announced the extension of the \u00a32 bus fare cap, with Aberdeen and Aberdeenshire to be covered from April.<\/p>\n
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