THE LEADER of the Welsh Liberal Democrats has pledged that her party would abolish tolls on the Severn Bridge if elected. Speaking ahead of a 10p rise in the Severn Bridge tolls in July, Kirsty Williams AM has urged parties to stop wasting time on whether the tolls should be devolved and instead focus on scrapping them. From January 1, the Severn Bridge tolls will increase from £6.50 to £6.60 for cars. Drivers of heavy goods vehicles will be forced to pay £19.80 every time they cross the bridges.
The Liberal Democrats say that they were the only party to pledge to scrap the tolls in their 2015 General Election Manifesto. The Severn Crossings are currently managed by a private concessionaire. The concession will end when a revenue target collected from tolls is reached, expected to be in 2018. When that happens, the Liberal Democrats have said the tolls should be scrapped. A Welsh Government report study into the scrapping of the tolls said that visits into Wales from people in the south west of England would increase, though this would be offset by an increase in the number of Welsh people visiting England. The 2012 report also suggested that there might be an increase in the number of people living in Wales, especially near the border, and commuting to England for work. Kirsty Williams, leader of the Welsh Liberal Democrats, said: “Too much time is wasted by politicians worrying about which government should be responsible for the tolls. They don’t seem to get that people couldn’t care less if the tolls are devolved or not, what they care about is who will scrap them.
“Plaid, the Tories and Labour all want to keep the tolls as a cash-cow. In contrast, the Liberal Democrats will completely scrap them. “It’s a disgrace that people are forced to pay £6.60 every time they enter Wales. “Scrapping the tolls would help rebalance the economy and drive growth in a part of the country that really needs it. The tolls have been a barrier to the Welsh economy for far too long. “These tolls are a tax on entering Wales. By scrapping them, the Liberal Democrats would boost the South Wales economy by around £107m a year.”
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