WALES’ first minister reinforced his position on the M4 toll road yesterday, saying the Treasury had no power to impose a new road or a new toll on roads in Wales.
Carwyn Jones spoke after a story, saying the chancellor George Osborne was considering a plan for a toll road on the M4, resurfaced yet again at the weekend despite previous denials by Mr Osborne that he was considering a tolled M4 relief road.
“The reality is that the Treasury has no power to impose a new road or a new toll on roads in Wales. They are devolved,” Mr Jones told AMs in the Senedd.
The fact the story was denied raised questions where it originally came from: “It clearly came from somebody inside the government.
“It makes no sense in practical terms for there to be a toll on the Severn Bridge then five miles later another toll on another road. No one is going to pay it,” he added.
“The apparent attractiveness of using the toll road to finance the building of that road doesn’t work. The M6 toll road doesn’t make any money... the maintenance costs are so high”.
No deal on how a M4 relief road might be funded has yet been made between the Welsh and UK governments.
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