Liberal Democrat Prospective Parliamentary Candidate for the High Peak is fuming with Tom Levitt MP for joining the Manchester Congestion Charge debate two years down the track and then supporting it.

Steve said " I object strongly to the current proposal to charge motorists who want to cross the M60 ‘cordon’. Not only is this scheme fatally flawed from its inception, it is a total con-trick. In his column, government mouthpiece Tom Levitt tries to defend it, citing supposed greater ease for road users and stimulus for the economy. How Mr Levitt thinks that charging people going to and from work as they try to earn a living is a ‘stimulus’ for the economy is totally beyond me.

 

The current government scheme is just a money-raking exercise. I think we will find that anyone who seriously thinks the daily charge is going to stay at £5 is sadly mis-guided. I predict that if this scheme is adopted then soon it will a 24/7 charge with a cost of around £10 a day during peak hours. It is strange that in the very week Tom Levitt and Labour are trumpeting this idea, OPEC are telling us that oil will be $170 a barrel by the end of the summer. More difficulties in store for the hard pressed motorist of the High Peak. I notice no comment on this from Tom.

 

The currently proposed outer boundary is the M60, meaning that anyone going to the Trafford Centre, Manchester Airport, Christie’s Hospital, Manchester Royal, Manchester University and many other amenities like that will be paying. This is not ‘congestion charging’.

 

 The Liberal Democrat policy is to move onto road charging, but with a major difference regarding fairness: the Liberal Democrat policy is INSTEAD of all other road charges. This current crackpot scheme is ‘on top of’! One should encourage car sharing, use of bus lanes for cars with a full complement of passengers and, for those who do car share, reduced car parking charges in Manchester.

 

Tom Levitt belatedly now says that he wants the people of the High Peak to be consulted. No-one in government has owned up to the fact that motorists are being left to pay off a massive loan bailing out the Tory legacy of privatisation of public transport operators. This was a policy ofutter lunacy when the buses were privatised and then the same imbecilic exercise was repeated with the railways. These are private companies and as such have access to capital from the banks or their shareholders. If things get much worse, David Cameron won’t be able to take his car with him any more when he cycles to work.

 

 High Peak should say NO to this ‘congestion charge con-trick’.

 

Residents of the High Peak have not benefited from Gordon Brown’s leadership, claim local Liberal Democrats in a message to residents.

 

Labour MPs unanimously made Mr Brown party leader last year and on 27th June, they will celebrate his first anniversary as Prime Minister.

 

 But local Liberal Democrats are unhappy about Mr Brown’s leadership and have argued strongly that the High Peak has failed to benefit from his year as Prime Minister.

 

Glossop County Council Candidate George Kuppan said, “Gordon Brown has been in office for a year and I am still looking for any significant improvements here in the High Peak.

 

 “The cost of petrol is hitting rural areas like the High Peak hard, the total lack of proper public transport and affordable housing is making life intolerable for those on low incomes. If this isn’t enough we are having to fight to keep Post Offices open and telephone boxes in isolated areas.

 

 “Instead of the strong leadership claims Labour spun last year, we have endured months of dithering, indecision and a chaotic government under Prime Minister Brown. He seems more like a rabbit frozen in the headlights rather than a person giving leadership to the country.

 

“Having failed to sort fuel prices, public transport or post offices, thousands of local residents on low incomes continue to be worse off under Gordon Brown’s 10p tax grab, despite the panic concessions last month. Just this week Labour hit total rock bottom by coming a bad fifth in the Henley by-election behind the BNP.

 

 “Thousands are being forced to pay more council tax and many local residents are forced to live in overcrowded conditions because of the credit crunch and the failure of Labour to build sufficient affordable homes.

 

“As I go around the Glossop and the High Peak speaking to residents, I find more and more anger as matters get worse under Gordon Brown rather than better.”