TRANSPORT, or should I say, problems with transport is one of the biggest topics that my constituents raise with me.

There is too much congestion on the roads, the railways are too packed at peak times and all the while we see the local council building more and more houses with no additional infrastructure to cope with the additional cars and commuters.

National government has devolved powers to run the buses to the mayor for Greater Manchester but we have suffered, with the Greater Manchester bus network shrinking by eight million miles in just four years because of the local Labour leadership.

Some of the cuts have been fuelled by the decision to build the “miss-guided” busway.

Can it be any coincidence that the X34 and 26 routes have been slashed following the building of the busway?

It may sound cynical but many people believe that buses have been cut to force passengers on to the busway to make it appear a success.

Labour’s busway has even cut Leigh’s chances of being connected to the railway network.

When you thought it could not get any worse, pensioners are being hit by another Burnham tax.

At the age of 65 and after a lifetime of paying taxes, many people look forward to having a free bus pass but now the mayor has chosen to charge people £10 a year for the privilege.

The Burnham tax is going to start at £10 but we all know that the only way from here is up.

It is not just the money that is the issue.

There will now be the annual faff of stumping up the cash and doing the paper chase.

Complacently, Burnham’s bureaucrats will tell you that it is all easy to process online but that ignores the fact that many people who depend on their bus pass do not have a computer at home.

Rather than punishing people on the wrong side of the digital divide and imposing another Burnham burden on decent working-class people, he could have been generous and followed the example from Liverpool where people receive their Merseytravel pass from the age of 60 rather than forcing people to wait till 65.

I am sure you would agree that teachers, scientists, engineers and so many other professions make an amazing contribution to our daily lives, but not everyone does.

Instead, the heroes of too many of our local politicians are tax collectors and paper-chasing bureaucrats.

Perhaps I am a little biased, but as a former engineer, I believe in solving problems and making life easier so I do not buy into the type of political thinking that believes all good things can come from a bigger and more expensive government.

There are enough challenges in life without the mayor adding to them.

What's your thoughts on this week's MP column? To give your opinion email newsdesk@leighjournal.co.uk.