BUSINESS SPLITS ON GARL CALL

BUSINESS SPLITS ON GARL CALL,

CBI DIRECTOR’S CALL TO RE-INTRODUCE BRIDGE TOLLS ‘IDIOTIC’.

Central Fife MSP Tricia Marwick has welcomed the remarks made by business organisations in Fife opposing the suggestion by CBI Scotland Director Iain McMillan that GARL should be reinstated and paid for by reintroducing tolls on the Forth Road Bridge with one describing them as ‘idiotic’.

Commenting on Iain McMillan’s suggestion Alan Russell, the chief executive of the Fife Chamber, said:

“We believe that this is a completely idiotic idea that is short-sighted and that should never have seen the light of day…

“…An analogy would be for people in Fife and Edinburgh to ask for tolls on the Kingston Bridge to help pay for the new Forth crossing—and I am sure the people of Glasgow would think that suggestion is preposterous…

“...If business organisations are going to campaign for transport projects then a carefully thought out plan is required and that needs to include realistic suggestions for funding unlike this one from Mr McMillan.”

Commenting Ms Marwick said:

“It is welcome that both FSB Fife and the Fife Chamber of Commerce’s have come out against this suggestion. People in Fife – including many businesses and the Federation of Small Businesses – haven’t campaigned for 40 years to abolish tolls to see them reintroduced within a few years.

“Mr McMillan’s suggestion to reinstate the tolls in order to pay for GARL has not gone down well with my constituents and I have been inundated with e-mails and calls to my office from people completely opposed this idea.

“Why should the people of Fife should be hit with an additional tax to pay for a one mile stretch of track that will be of little benefit to anyone, including ordinary people in Glasgow as well as my constituents?

“That is totally unacceptable and I am simply not prepared to see the people of Fife treated in this way.

“The FSB’s and the Chambers’ national organisations, along with CBI Scotland, signed a letter to the Scottish Government calling for a reinstatement of GARL so I hope they would distance themselves from Mr McMillan’s comments.

“Iain McMillan’s stance is odd and confused. During the previous administration, he said that if there was a squeeze in public spending, investment in the roads network must come before airport links.

“Now, for the first time since devolution, the Scottish Government is facing a real terms cut in the resources available to us because of UK Government cuts.

"It is time for opposition parties and those who want to see GARL brought back to put up genuine proposals not pie in the sky spending or to accept the financial reality we now live in.

“It is not affordable to commit to GARL now in the face of these Westminster-imposed cuts, when major capital projects such as the M74 completion, the M80 upgrade, Forth Replacement Crossing, rail infrastructure improvements, the schools programme, and the new Southern General Hospital must be allocated the capital they need to go ahead.”