I AM PLEASED to hear that the Conservatives plan to scrap the Severn Crossing tolls, as that will reduce the costs of my trips back to Wales, especially to Cardiff for the rugby! But a more serious benefit is that they expect the move to boost the local economy on both the Welsh and English sides of the Severn by £100,000,000 per year.

This is a good example of the removal of a non-tariff barrier to trade between two areas producing increased economic activity for the benefit of both sides, from the Newport and Cardiff area to Bristol and Bath.

If simply removing a toll on a bridge can make have a positive effect, just imagine the negative impact of re-introducing customs and other trade barriers between the UK and the European single market. 

Add to that the loss of EU investment in Wales. It was because of bad economic conditions in the Valleys that my mother and her parents were forced to cross the Severn to look for work back in the 1930s. 
Wales may have voted to leave the EU, but I am sure that Wales did not vote for the economic self harm that the Conservative governments approach to Brexit will surely bring.

We need to convince the Conservatives (and Labour too!) that we do not want our future devastated by a hard Brexit. Lets not go back to the 1930s.

Barry Parkin
Windhill
Bishop’s Stortford