[Falkirk, 19.01.2026] Falkirk MP and Co-Chair of the All-Party Parliamentary Group for British Buses, Euan Stainbank, has secured a Westminster Hall debate on the future of the UK’s domestic bus manufacturing sector.
The debate, taking place on Tuesday 27 January, was granted by the Backbench Business Committee and will be led by Mr Stainbank alongside Jim Allister MP.
It will focus on the urgent need for procurement reform, stronger support for Scottish and British manufacturers, and growing concerns around national security risks linked to Chinese-made electric buses operating on UK roads.
MPs will examine the expanding market share of Chinese manufacturers in the UK bus sector which has grown under successive governments and been supported by publicly funded schemes such as the SNP’s ScotZEB2 programme. It will also consider reports of potential “kill switches” or remote access technology in imported electric buses, raising serious questions about passenger safety, national resilience and the security of critical public infrastructure.
Recent investigations by authorities in Denmark and Norway into whether Chinese-manufactured electric buses can be remotely accessed by their manufacturers have intensified concerns across Europe, prompting renewed calls for scrutiny in the UK.
Mr Stainbank has repeatedly warned that record levels of public investment in bus decarbonisation risk becoming a “shopping list for Chinese manufacturers” unless procurement rules are reformed to prioritise domestic content and long-term industrial strategy.
Mr Stainbank said:
“Buses are a core part of our national infrastructure. The idea that vehicles operating on British streets could potentially be remotely accessed or disabled by foreign manufacturers should concern every MP, regardless of party.
“At the same time, billions of pounds of public money have been spent on decarbonising the buses on our roads, while Scottish and British manufacturers such as Alexander Dennis in Falkirk are undercut by taxpayer-funded schemes. This puts factories, skilled jobs and vital supply chains at risk.
“This debate is about security and sovereignty. We must start backing Scottish and British manufacturing properly through procurement reform, an industrial strategy that keeps jobs and skills here in the UK and simple common sense that was lacking from the previous Tory Government and current SNP Scottish Government.
“If we fail to act, we risk hollowing out a vital Scottish and British industry which has supported thousands of livelihoods in Falkirk over the last 100 years and leave ourselves in a more volatile world increasingly dependent on overseas suppliers for delivering a key part of our public transport infrastructure.”
ENDS
Notes to Editors
- The Westminster Hall debate on UK bus manufacturing will take place on Tuesday 27 January 2026.
- The debate was granted by the Backbench Business Committee following a request last year from Euan Stainbank MP and Jim Allister MP.
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