Hoon in 'I love cars' mode
The Government has been accused of bullying the public into accepting road tolls. Ministers have reportedly threatened to withhold £1.5 billion of public funding for public transport in Manchester unless the city agrees to be a test bed for pay-as-you-drive road pricing.
According to The Times newspaper Geoff Hoon, the Transport Secretary, said money for extra buses and, as well as a new tram system, would be withheld unless a majority of Greater Manchester’s 1.8million population voted ‘yes’ in next month’s road pricing referendum.
The comments were made in an interview with the newspaper and have been blasted by opponents of Manchester’s planned charging scheme. The proposals would mean that cars are fitted with electronic tags and set up with prepaid accounts.
Up to £5 a day would be deducted automatically from these accounts as they drive around the city on an inner and outer ring. The Manchester scheme is being seen as essential for paving the way for national road pricing and a ‘no’ vote could lead to a ten year delay.
Mr Hoon said without road pricing Manchester would get no funding. ‘There is no Plan B. I would not want people to be under any illusion about that,’ he said. Asked if Manchester would get even a small proportion of what it needed if it voted ‘no’, Mr Hoon said: ‘None whatsoever. If the vote is ‘no', there will be no central government funding. The rules are very clear.’
Graham Stringer, Labour MP for Manchester Blackley and a member of the Commons Transport Select Committee, said: ‘This is last-minute bullying by Mr Hoon. It shows how worried they are about losing.’
Nigel Humphries, spokesman for the Association of British Drivers, said: ‘The Government is holding a gun to Manchester's head. They know congestion charging is unpopular, but they are trying to introduce it by the back door by picking on a city which has been trying for years to get the money to expand its tram system.’