I FIND it difficult to believe that there are still people who fall for the line that Severn Crossing repairs should be paid for by the motorist.  

There is no other stretch of motorway in Britain where we are expected to pay towards the upkeep, except the M6 toll road, which provides an alternative route to an existing motorway.

Repairs are taking place all the time: on Spaghetti Junction (J6, M6) and other expensive-to-maintain stretches and viaducts such as the elevated sections of the M5 around Birmingham which are miles long.  

But we don’t have to pay for those repairs.

The M4 and M48 are motorways that happen to have a bridge on them. Any repairs should come from general taxation.

Rightly or wrongly, a toll system was used to pay for the bridges’ construction.  

Once these costs have been paid for, in a year or two away, I and the Welsh Liberal Democrats see no reason for paying to travel along these main routes into South Wales. This isn’t a ‘choice’ or a faster option, this is a tax on Wales and a tax on businesses in Wales.  

So yes, the Chancellor will halve the tolls when the bridges come back into public ownership, but we say “not good enough, George.’

Treat us like the rest of Britain.

– Veronica German, Liberal Democrat lead candidate, south-east Wales.