SNP pledges to end Skye tolls
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• The thorny issue of tolls on the Skye Bridge is fast becoming an election issue in Scotland following a pledge by the Scottish National Party to get rid of them.
With the SNP currently running neck and neck with Labour to run the Scottish Parliament, the toils have once again taken centre-stage, according to campaign group Skye and Kyle Against Tolls (SKAT).
It is understood that the Liberal Democrats could follow the SNP'S lead by also promising to abolish the tolls, according to SKAT's Myrna Scott Moncrieff: "It has become a moral thing to get rid of the tolls—very much like the poll tax situation."
SKAT's comments follow a
damning report on the Skye Bridge, which has accused the Scottish Office of failing to protect the interests of toll payers.
The report, from the crossparty Commons Public Accounts Committee, slammed the Scottish Office for not looking at alternative options to the bridge and for failing to secure the best financial terms for the deal.
The report concludes: "For many users the bridge is now the only practicable means of reaching Skye. We are not satisfied that the department paid sufficiently close attention to the need to protect the toll payers from having to pay tolls for longer than necessary."
A Government-commissioned study to evaluate the bridge's impact on traffic patterns and the local economy is due out in December.