Published: Thursday, 15th February, 2007 12:00
Bridge takes its toll on party unity
By Gary Fitzpatrick
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Pic by: Dunfermline Press
LABOUR and the Lib Dems are accused of being in “complete disarray” over Forth Road Bridge tolls after Fife MSPs rebelled against their own parties.
Dunfermline West MSP Scott Barrie resigned as Labour’s chief whip and was joined in supporting a SNP motion to abolish charging by Dunfermline East’s Helen Eadie.
The abolition bid ended in a narrow defeat but the heated debate ensured the issue will be a major issue come May’s elections.
The scrapping of tolls on the Skye and Erskine bridge, which left Fife with the only two tolled bridges in Scotland, triggered a groundswell of support for abolition in the Kingdom.
The SNP motion put the Fife Labour MSPs in a tight spot and none more so than Scott Barrie, who as chief whip was responsible for ensuring his colleagues toed the party line.
He could not continue in that role while opposing the Scottish Executive on tolls and so handed in his resignation to First Minister Jack McConnell.
Now, the pressure is on those drawing up the Labour and Lib Dem manifestos with anything less than a no-tolls policy leaving their Fife candidates vulnerable.
The Lib Dems in West Fife are running a high-profile ‘No £1 Toll’ campaign but their transport minister, Tavish Scott, and MSPs from outwith Fife opposed abolition.
Fife Lib Dem MSPs Andrew Arbuckle and Iain Smith went against their party by backing axing tolls but the vote ended 65-58 in the Executive’s favour, thanks to the support of the Greens.
In the last year, all the main parties have changed their policy on tolls to the point where the public must be confused over who stands for what.
The SNP and the Tories are now against tolls, the Greens are for them and, in the run-up to May’s ballot, West Fife voters will be looking for an unequivocal policy from both Labour and the Lib Dems.
Explaining his resignation, Mr Barrie said, “I have been increasingly frustrated by the Liberal Democrat transport minister’s refusal to abolish the unfair bridge toll.
“I know that my constituents expect me to speak out and only by resigning as chief whip do I have that freedom.”
He added, “I believe absolutely, fundamentally, tolls on the Forth and Tay bridges should be removed. This has been an issue fought widely for a long time.
“My constituents in Dunfermline have expressed time and again a desire to have the Forth tolls lifted and I believe an MSP’s first duty is to their constituents.”
Mr Barrie followed up his resignation with a letter sent out to constituents, attacking the Lib Dems.
In it he stated, “I believe that consistency and integrity are the greatest virtues a parliamentarian can possess and I have been absolutely clear that keeping the tolls on the Forth Bridge is an unfair tax on the people of Dunfermline and West Fife.
“In the by-election last year – and again only last month – you will remember that the local Liberal Democrats and Willie Rennie MP claimed that the Liberals were opposed to tolls.
“However, it is the Liberal Democrat transport minister who is in charge of this area of Scottish Executive policy – and who has vetoed removing the tolls.”
In the debate, Helen Eadie told the Greens they were living “in cloud cuckoo land” and “do not understand what some of the issues are confronting our folks challenged by poor public transport connections.”
She added, “It beggars belief that the SNP has the cheek and audacity to box people into a corner today.
“I will be voting for their motion, not because of the SNP but because I have campaigned with others in the Labour Party all my political life to have the tolls removed and because I believe that that is the right thing to do for the people of Scotland.”
Len Woods, SNP candidate for Dunfermline West, said, “This shows that this discredited coalition is in complete disarray.
“Barrie would never have done this a year ago. He would have sat tight and voted with his party. His resignation is, as usual, re-active under pressure.
“He is obviously a frightened man with the election looming. This says more about Labour’s duplicity than Mr Barrie.
“As for the Lib Dems – what are Rennie and Tolson going to do now? Their English-produced party tabloid carried front page banner headlines ‘No £1 Bridge Tolls’.
“This is with their pictures emblazoned on a backdrop of the bridge whilst Tavish Scott, their leader, speaks for and leads his party to retain the tolls. Make no mistake about it – if the Greens were not guaranteed to vote for the tolls what would Barrie and the Lib Dems have done I wonder?”
Green MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife Mark Ruskell said, “If the money raised from a smart charging system was used in the way that has been proposed – to boost rail, bus and ferry links in Fife and across the Forth – then that would reduce congestion by providing alternatives and help to extend the life of the bridge.”
David Chalmers, the Fife chairman of the Federation of Small Businesses, said it was noticeable that 40 of the 65 votes against the motion were from central and west of Scotland MSPs.
He added, “The FSB position remains unchanged; tolls should be abolished forthwith and neither linked with a new crossing or used as an election issue for party political advantage.”
Forth Estuary Transport Authority convener Lawrence Marshall, an Edinburgh Labour councillor, welcomed the “foresight of the Scottish Parliament in rejecting the motion”.
The SNP’s Mid Scotland and Fife MSP Tricia Marwick, whose motion it was, said, “The fight to abolish the tolls and remove the unfair tax on Fife will continue. An SNP government will abolish the tolls within the first 100 days of being elected in May. This tax has been levied on Fife for more than 40 years.”
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