Chancellor accused of bridge tolls "lie"

Chancellor Gordon Brown was today accused of "lying" over the question of Forth road bridge tolls. The charge was made by SNP depute leader Nicola Sturgeon in heated exchanges with First Minister Jack McConnell.

Referring to different statements made by Mr Brown and Mr McConnell, Ms Sturgeon told MSPs: "It seems Labour politicians leave any notion of truth behind when they cross the Forth bridge into Fife. Isn't it the case that we have a First Minister saying a proposal is still on the table, yet Gordon Brown insists on the pretence that that proposal has been dropped? Isn't it the case that most people would describe that quite simply as a lie? The question for the First Minister is, does he condemn it or does he condone it?"

The SNP is campaigning for a freeze in the level of tolls on the Forth road bridge at £1.

The row began with Ms Sturgeon challenging the First Minister to explain why Gordon Brown had "misled the public" by saying on Monday that any toll increases were dead in the water, days after Mr McConnell had said tolls were "very firmly on the agenda".

Ms Sturgeon said the position of Labour and the Liberal Democrats now was many things - but "clear" was not one of them.

She said that, on Monday, Gordon Brown had said: "The whole proposal is dropped." This, she said, referred to the proposal for having tolls at varying levels at different points in the day. "If Gordon Brown is telling the truth, the First Minister should
be able to stand up right now and rule out any increase in tolls," she told MSPs.

"If the First Minister cannot do that, then Gordon Brown is clearly not telling the truth - which is it?"

Ms Sturgeon demanded that the First Minister tell the Chancellor to stop trying to mislead the people of Fife.

"In a week when 700 of them have lost their jobs, they deserve a lot more honesty from the Labour Party," she said.

Commenting on the exchanges at Holyrood, SNP candidate in the Dunfermline & West Fife by-election, Douglas Chapman added:

"Clearly the Labour and LibDem proposal to increase tolls is very much alive and kicking.

"We will continue to campaign hard to stop the increases.

"Every vote for the SNP on February 9 is a vote against an increase in the tolls. Every vote for Labour and the LibDems is a green light to hike up the tolls after the election."

Dunfermline SNP