 | 'He (Gordon Brown) faced a storm of criticism after he announced that plans for a £4 toll on the existing Forth Bridge had been scrapped - a decision that wasn't his to take.' Brian Lironi, Political Editor in the Sunday Mail, 5 th February 2006. |  |
| 'He (Gordon Brown) faced a storm of criticism after he announced that plans for a £4 toll on the existing Forth Bridge had been scrapped - a decision that wasn't his to take.' Brian Lironi, Political Editor in the Sunday Mail, 5 th February 2006. | |
GORDON BROWN yesterday threw his weight behind a new road bridge across the Forth.
The Chancellor insisted he was not at odds with Jack McConnell and the Scottish Executive.
He faced a storm of criticism after he announced that plans for a £4 toll on the existing Forth Bridge had been scrapped - a decision that wasn't his to take.
And yesterday he risked another row over his meddling in Scottish affairs when he said he wanted a new Forth bridge.
He said: "I want a second road bridge across the Forth. Everyone I speak to in this area also wants a new bridge.
"The situation is clear. We are waiting for a report being prepared for the Executive on the future of the existing bridge before any decisions are made.
"I am 100 per cent with Jack McConnell and the Executive on this."
The £4 toll would have applied only to vehicles with a single occupant.
Brown, campaigning for Labour candidate Catherine Stihler before Thursday's Dunfermline and West Fife by-election, denied there had been any rift with the First Minister over tolls.
He said: "There is no confusion. The £4 toll is not happening. Jack McConnell has said what I have said - that it is not happening. Not one party in this campaign and not one person I have met wants the £4 toll and it's not going to happen."
McConnell, also canvassing in Dunfermline, said: "I've been saying for three weeks that there is no prospect of the £4 tolls going ahead but formal decisions will be made later this month. The two positions are not incompatible."
Brown also promised to rebuild the coal industry and create hundreds of jobs.
He announced plans to invest in new "clean coal" technology that would create 300 jobs at Longannet, Fife.
He predicted the rebirth of the coal industry - destroyed by the Tories in the 1980s - could create hundreds more jobs.
He said: "It is well known in these parts that we are standing on a thousand years worth of coal.
"The pits won't come back. The future is about opencast mining but there is the potential to create jobs in coal. These are exciting times for Fife and Scotland."
The Chancellor also announced plans to hold two major conferences on new technologies - including clean coal and digital electronics.
The Global Business Seminars - hosted by the Executive - will look at developing hi-tech businesses with a Scots foothold.
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