| The event was organised by the SNP in advance of Thursday’s vote at Holyrood, when the party will devote its parliamentary time to a debate on the future of the Tay tolls and a motion calling for their removal.
If they win the vote, it will put pressure on the Scottish Executive to abolish tolls over both the Tay and the Forth bridges.
“If everyone who has given a clear statement that they are against the tolls on the bridge votes on Thursday we should win,” said Dundee East MSP Shona Robison, adding that today’s event was planned to demonstrate the solidarity between Dundee and Fife on the issue.
“We are of one mind that the tolls should go,” she said.
“It is not fair, given that the tolls have been lifted from the Skye and Erskine Bridges, that people in Tayside and Fife should be penalised.”
She added the amount that would be spent on the plan to move the toll booths to the other side of the bridge would more or less cover the existing debt on the structure.
The bridge is toll-free today, because of the public service workers strike, and she suggested that people would be particularly interested in the effect it would have on the traffic flow at the evening rush hour.
“Tavish Scott (Scottish transport minister) has argued the tolls help to alleviate congestion, but I know, and everyone in Dundee knows, that this is not the case. The choking fumes from the cars backed up are there for everyone to see.”
She added that the issue goes far beyond party politics and she hoped that would be borne out by the motion winning a majority of votes on Thursday.
Tricia Marwick, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, said it was an issue of fairness.
“It’s about the added burden for individuals, for commuters and for businesses,” she explained.
She added the tolls were “disincentives” to businesses seeking to relocate north of Edinburgh and to investment in the area. |
