Foulkes demands a rethink on 'dogmatic' plan for new bridge

Published on Friday 16 July 2010 20:24

LOTHIANS Labour MSP George Foulkes today called for a rethink on whether the new £2 billion Forth road bridge should go ahead.

• The cost of immediately cancelling the new Forth bridge has been put at 22 million by Transport Minister Stewart Stevenson. Picture:

He claimed the Scottish Government was not clear how it was going to pay for the new crossing at a time when budgets were being slashed.

And he urged further study of the potential for extending the life of the existing bridge.

Lord Foulkes spoke out after Transport Minister Stewart Stevenson told him in a parliamentary answer that cancelling the project immediately would cost 22 million.

The new bridge won cross-party support when MSPs gave it approval in principle in May, but Lord Foulkes claimed there was now growing scepticism about the project.

He said: "I'm still not convinced they have done enough to check the life-extension potential of the existing bridge.

"If they do go ahead with it and use up huge amounts of public money it's going to suck up money from every other capital project - not just transport, but schools and hospitals and a whole range of things."

The Scottish Government originally wanted to borrow money from future years' capital budgets to pay for the bridge, but when that was blocked by the previous Labour government, it said it would meet the cost from its year-to-year allocations.

Lord Foulkes said: "I think they have just made a dogmatic decision they have to go ahead with it and they will find the money whatever - without thinking it through,

"I think the engineers are leading the charge. They love the idea of this wonderful new bridge and are not willing to be distracted from it.

"Stewart Stevenson and John Swinney are nodding it through. They should be asking more questions."

Construction work is due to start next year and be completed in 2016.

Lord Foulkes said: "It needs a thorough re-examination. It may be in the end there is no alternative but I don't think it has been given enough scrutiny.

"If you look at how much it would cost to cancel, okay it's a lot but it's nothing compared to the ultimate cost and it's a small amount in global terms.

"If there is going to be a rethink, it's better done now than in one or two years' time when the financial pressures become even more."

Pro-bridge campaigners have stressed how vital the crossing is to the Scottish economy, especially in Fife.

Lord Foulkes said: "I recognise the importance to Fife of the crossing and that should not be minimised, but if the existing bridge can be repaired and its life extended that would deal with their requirements."

But a Scottish Government spokesman claimed cancellation would also hit Edinburgh and the Lothians.

He said: "Not to proceed with the new Forth crossing would be taking an enormous and unacceptable risk with the Lothians economy."

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NO TURNING BACK? The cost of immediately cancelling the new Forth bridge has been put at 22 million by Transport Minister Stewart Stevenson