Time for clarity on the Tamar Tolls

Last November, the Liberal Democrats launched a petition calling for central Government to fully fund both the Tamar Bridge and the Torpoint Ferry so that the tolls can be abolished. When Cornwall Council voted to increase the tolls from £2.60 to £3.00, Liberal Democrat Councillors unanimously voted against.

Unfortunately our Conservative MPs and Councillors are less united.

Since she was elected in 2010, South East Cornwall’s MP Sheryll Murray has repeatedly said that the Tamar Bridge Act makes it impossible for central Government to provide any funding for the crossings. 

But now as the General Election approaches, she has changed her mind three times within a year: First calling for a temporary freeze on toll prices (without any extra Government cash); then asking for the Government to fund electronic tolling and the removal of toll booths (on the condition that tolls are frozen); and then finally asking for the tolls to be abolished altogether.

Unfortunately this inconsistency has caused confusion: Last week when she asked the Prime Minister if he would “make our part of the country more competitive by losing this extra tax and helping our community to level up”, he replied by talking about the “toll revision application” in her petition (which does not mention abolishing the tolls).

Meanwhile Conservative Cornwall Councillors voted in favour of the increase to £3.00 at three separate meetings (at the Tamar Bridge and Torpoint Ferry Joint Committee; at the Cabinet; and at Full Council).

This division within the Conservatives makes it easy for the Government to ignore any requests to freeze or abolish the tolls. If the majority of Conservatives on Cornwall Council have voted to increase the tolls, why should the Government do otherwise?

Labour are no better: Rather than calling for tolls to be frozen or abolished, their policy is to freeze prices for tag users whilst putting all of the increase onto pay-as-you-go tolls. This could see the cost of a crossing rise above £5!

Last week, I brought a motion to the Joint Committee calling for all parties to make a firm commitment to work towards the abolition of the Tamar Tolls. This would force Parliamentary candidates to pick a side in the debate: Will they do what’s right for Cornwall and Plymouth, or will they follow orders from party HQ?”

But rather than supporting the motion, committee members voted for a much weaker form of words, merely committing to “meaningfully explore the possibility of toll abolition”.

“If I told my child that I will ‘meaningfully explore the possibility’ of taking them to MacDonalds for dinner, would you think I was serious about doing it, or simply trying to keep them quiet?”

All three parties now have toll petitions, but only the Liberal Democrat petition calls for the tolls to be abolished. You can sign it at www.seclibdems.uk/tamar-tolls