Labour candidate wins bridge tolls pledge from Miliband

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NICK Bent, the Labour Parliamentary Candidate for Warrington South, has secured a key pledge from Ed Miliband and Ed Balls for a formal review of the road tolls facing Warrington drivers if Labour wins the General Election on May 7.
This significant step forward for the campaign to scrap the road tolls was announced by Ed Miliband and Ed Balls to coincide with the 1,000 strong Labour North West rally at the Parr Hall in Warrington.
More than 550 local residents have now signed the online petition calling on David Cameron to do a u-turn and scrap the tolls for Warrington drivers.
The petition was launched by Mr Bent, who lives in Great Sankey, one of the areas that would be most likely to suffer from the tolls.
People can add their voice to the petition to David Cameron at www.WarringtonSouth.org
Mr Bent has also publicly criticised David Cameron for ignoring Warrington businesses and residents and accused the sitting Conservative MP for Warrington South of a lack of action against the road tolls.
“This pledge from Ed Miliband is a big step forward for the campaign to scrap the road tolls and another good reason to vote Labour on May 7,” said Mr Bent.
“The Conservatives have been hopeless on this and it is only Labour that is listening to people’s concerns about the cost  of the tolls and the impact on congestion.”
An impressive range of organisations in the town have also backed the campaign for the road tolls to be scrapped.
More than 250 local businesses, led by the Chamber of Commerce, The University of Chester and Halton and Warrington NHS Hospital Trust, are backing the campaign.
Unless Ministers do a u-turn, the new road tolls would be imposed on all  drivers using the current Silver Jubilee Bridge and new Mersey Gateway Crossing.  It will cost £2 each way, and the so-called “discount pass” for Warrington drivers is £90 per month – more than £1,000 per year.  Road tolls at Runcorn will also mean even worse congestion in Warrington – and that would be a nightmare for residents, for business and for the town’s reputation.
Ed Balls, Labour’s Shadow Chancellor, said “Nick Bent and Warrington’s Labour Council are doing a brilliant job working with business and the community to get a better deal for Warrington.
“Residents are rightly worried about the cost of living, and of doing business in Warrington including the proposed Mersey bridge road tolls. The VAT increase this Government carried out has added around 3p to the cost of a litre of fuel, and the Tory threat of a further rise in VAT if returned to power would only make matters much worse. A Labour Government is determined to address the costs of motoring, we will tackle the cost of high insurance bills, ban “stealth” speed cameras, fix potholes, and target unnecessary road closures. A Labour Government will seek a fairer solution for those who live and work in Warrington.”


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Experienced journalist for more than 40 years. Managing Director of magazine publishing group with three in-house titles and on-line daily newspaper for Warrington. Experienced writer, photographer, PR consultant and media expert having written for local, regional and national newspapers. Specialties: PR, media, social networking, photographer, networking, advertising, sales, media crisis management. Chair of Warrington Healthwatch Director Warrington Chamber of Commerce Patron Tim Parry Johnathan Ball Foundation for Peace. Trustee Warrington Disability Partnership. Former Chairman of Warrington Town FC.

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