Lib Dems hit out over Mersey Gateway tolls

THE Liberal Democrats at Warrington have slammed Labour for failing to commit to removing the tolls from the new Mersey Gateway crossing to be built in Halton.
Cllr Bob Barr, the Liberal Democrat Parliamentary candidate for Warrington South, said the national Labour leadership, at a party rally in Warrington, had failed to commit to removing the tolls.
This meant a teacher who commuted to school in South Warrington would face an extra £100 a month to his travel costs.
Cllr Barr  said: “This is part of a pattern. By opting to finance the Mersey Crossing using the Private Finance Initiative the last Labour government went for the most expensive form of finance, for the most expensive new crossing of the Mersey possible, expecting drivers to pick up the costs through tolls.
“Insult has been added to injury by tolling the original Jubilee Bridge –  the first time tolls have been introduced for an existing crossing in the last 100 years.
“Labour has saddled this area with the hugely expensive Whiston Hospital Private Finance Initiative scheme, payments on which have threatened other hospitals in the area. This hospital, built by Labour, maximised the number of single bedded wards to allow private operations to take place.
“Nearby the Fire Control centre at Lingley Mere stood empty for years, part of a project that wasted £469m according to MPs and the National Audit Office.
“HS2 remains hugely controversial, and again it was wildly over-specified for train speeds not yet feasible, or necessary, with a wasteful billion pound link to a proposed train works in Wigan.
“Labour wants to be trusted with the economy, yet in our region they have privatised, overspent and under-delivered consistently saddling residents with the costs.
“Instead of delivering the infrastructure the North West badly needs to be competitive, Labour opted for wasteful privately financed vanity projects. When given the opportunity to put a little of this right by pledging the removal of tolls from this vital new crossing all they offer is a ‘future review’ – a totally meaningless gesture.
“What Warrington and the North West needs is a properly funded regional growth initiative to ensure that the infrastructure can sustain the economic development of the region, not a few expensive vanity projects.”
Labour have also been attacked by Cllr Kevin Bennett, the Trade Union and Socialist Coalition candidate for Warrington South, for refusing to rule out fracking in the future.
Cllr Bennett said he had been shocked to hear Labour candidate Nick Bent refuse to rule out fracking in the future.
He said this was worrying for Warrington South because it created a climate of uncertainty.
If Labour was elected, the voters would not know what to expect. Mr Bent might vote for fracking one day, or he might not.
He said the conditions had to be right – but he did not say what those conditions were.
“Sitting on the fence like this  is not good enough.
“I believe the citizens of Warrington South want clear direction and honesty over people’s policies.”