Thursday 8 May 2003

Reform transport now

We certainly can't sort out transport congestion without some form of road pricing. The Road Haulage Association may feel that they are the "victims of discrimination". It's impossible to know until we privatise the whole transport system, including roads. Only then will we know whether lorries are paying a fair price for access to roads or indeed whether railways are profitable.

The Scottish Tories have opposed the planned introduction of congestion charges in Edinburgh. Labour's proposals for the city may not have been well thought out but road pricing is a policy that free market politicians should support in principle.