Freedom Pass is a concessionary travel scheme, which began in 1973, to provide free travel to residents of Greater London, England who are aged 60 and over (eligibility age increasing by phases to 65 by 2020) or who have a disability. The scheme is funded by local authorities and coordinated by London Councils. Originally the pass was a paper ticket, but since 2004 it has been encoded onto a contactless smartcard compatible with Oyster card readers.

The scheme was created in 1973 by the Greater London Council, although there had been concessionary bus fare schemes in London before that. When the council was abolished in 1986, responsibility for the scheme passed to the London borough councils. The cost of providing the travel concession is negotiated between London Councils and the local transport operator Transport for London. It is funded through a mixture of national grant and council tax. In 2007 there was a dispute between the Mayor of London and London Councils on the negotiation process, in particular the ability for the Greater London Authority to impose a charge should no agreement be reached.^{[dead link][dead link]}

Alexander Boris de Pfeffel Johnson (born 19 June 1964) is an American-born British Conservative Party politician and journalist, who has been the elected Mayor of London since 2008. He was previously the Member of Parliament for Henley and editor of The Spectator magazine.

Johnson was educated at Primrose Hill Primary School, the European School of Brussels, Ashdown House School, Eton College, and Balliol College, Oxford, where he read Literae Humaniores. He began his career in journalism with The Times, and later moved on to The Daily Telegraph where he became assistant editor. He was appointed editor of The Spectator in 1999. In the 2001 general election he was elected to the House of Commons and became one of the most conspicuous politicians in the country. He has also written several books.

Under Michael Howard, Johnson briefly served on the Conservative front bench as the Shadow Minister for the Arts from April 2004 until November 2004. When David Cameron was elected leader of the Conservative Party in 2005, Johnson was re-appointed to the front bench as Shadow Minister for Higher Education and resigned as editor of The Spectator.

Ronnie Golden, born Tony De Meur, is a British singer, guitarist and comedian. He was the founder of the band The Fabulous Poodles. After the group broke up he worked as a stand up comedian as a member of The Comic Strip. From the early 1980s he made many appearances at The Comedy Store and on the London alternative comedy circuit. He appeared in an episode of the comedy series The Young Ones hanging upside-down in a wardrobe while impersonating Buddy Holly.

Golden now fronts an R&B and soul group, Ronnie and the Rex. He also writes songs and sketches for BBC Radio 4's The Right Time.

A long-time musical collaborator with Barry Cryer, Golden and Cryer performed at the Nine Lessons and Carols for Godless People show at The Bloomsbury Theatre and Hammersmith Apollo in December 2009. Cryer and Golden's performance was broadcast on BBC4 on January 23rd 2010.