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'Broken promises' 1 1: 1 :1 11 d I line BRF blames Govt. d r a ws °I THE GOVERNMENT
Page 6
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has broken its election promises, said the British Road Federation. Cuts in transport spending went against declared Tory policy, it claimed.
A spokesman for BRF told CM that Transport Minister Norman Fowler's announcement that £10m of the £25m cut in transport spending should come out of the roads programme went against statements by Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher and Government Minister Hugh Rossi.
He quoted a radio interview last year in which Mrs Thatcher said: "There are some things which the Government must do. I think you should spend a little more on getting some of the roads and dual carriageways to the right places."
BRF reports that Hugh Rossi, now a Northern Ireland Minister, said during the election campaign that "We don't intend to make any further cutbacks in capital expenditure. We fully intend to continue with the programme of investment in the future."
According to Mr Fowler, the cuts will fall across the board. There will be small reductions in expenditure on new road construction, non-priority maintenance, amenity works, and new town roads.
He said: "I accept that the cuts will be tough, but they are not impossible to achieve, given the determination on the part of all concerned."
The BRF spokesman said that this was the tenth set of cuts in transport in five years. "It is like having one's head bashed against a brick wall The tenth time is a little bit softer, but it's still going to bleed."
Mr Fowler also said: "The review of vehicle excise duty which I foreshadowed in my statement of May 25 and to which the Chancellor referred in his Budget speech will begin at once. Further details will be announced shortly."
The £15m balance of the transport cuts is being found by reducing British Rail's cash limits.