THE Tory antipathy to bus travel was summed up by Margaret Thatcher's famous comment that any man riding a bus to work after the age of 26 was a failure in life.

Under Labour, bus passengers are not insulted to quite that extent - but they still don't have a government that is on their side.

Last year, Transport Secretary Douglas Alexander won widespread praise for pledging to end the "free-for-all" at bus stops blamed on ruthless and competing private operators. But, when his Local Transport Bill arrived last week, it was clear the draft legislation will do nothing of the sort.

Far from offering town halls London-style' powers to decide routes and fares and end the chaos of deregulation, it appears designed to prevent them from doing so.

Any local authority wanting to impose a "quality contract" on a bus firm - and perhaps save unprofitable routes - must prove it is "in the public interest", offers "value for money" and can be fully funded.

A three-person panel appointed by the Government, and headed by the region's transport commissioner, enjoys the power of veto. In fact, so many hurdles have been placed in the way of local authorities it would test Colin Jackson in his gold-medal winning pomp.

Yet, under deregulation, the North-East has suffered an 11 per cent fall in passenger numbers since 2000 - the biggest slump of any region in England.

The disappointed PTE group, which represents the transport authorities in the six largest metropolitan areas, including Tyne and Wear, warned any change could take four years. It protested: "Bus franchising could be key to the implementation of a wider city region transport strategy agreed by democratically accountable local politicians. Unaccountable traffic commissioners and transport tribunals should not be able to torpedo those strategies."

In contrast, the winners from the proposals were plain to see in the relaxed attitude of the big bus companies, who had previously hinted at legal action.

Interestingly - and almost without precedent for a secretary of state unveiling a Bill - Mr Alexander was nowhere to be seen on the day of its publication. Could it be the Transport Secretary knew he would be in the firing line for failing miserably to follow through on his "end the free-for-all" pledge?

The truth is that - for all the talk of devolving power to communities - ministers still don't trust local councils to run buses, just as they don't trust them to build new homes.

Critics of local government often point to pitiful turn-outs in local elections to argue that councillors are not truly accountable to their communities. So, instead, power will continue to lie in the hands of Arriva, Stagecoach and the rest - who are accountable to no one but their shareholders.

T HE joke is that Tony Blair is so reluctant to hand over to his next-door neighbour that he will be calling a Cabinet committee meeting even as the removal men knock on the No.10 door.

However, it's no joke that he plans to take Prime Minister's questions in the Commons on the very day - June 27 - that Gordon Brown will kiss the Queen's hand and finally take over.

So, even on Mr Brown's biggest day, his old rival will be grabbing some of the limelight.