Warrington Lib Dem Dr Joe Crotty slams Government over funding for Mersey Gateway

May 7 2009 by Mark Smith, Runcorn and Widnes Weekly News

A PROSPECTIVE MP has slammed the Government for what she calls “double standards” over funding of the Mersey Gateway Project.

Dr Jo Crotty, Lib Dem prospective parliamentary candidate for Warrington South, expressed anger following news that a new £2.3bn bridge in Scotland will be part paid for from the public purse.

A planned crossing over the Forth river on the outskirts of Edinburgh has secured £1bn of Treasury funds, in contrast to the £80m earmarked for the £431m Mersey crossing.

The remainder will be made up from PFI credits and road tolls.

The difference in funding is a result of the controversial Barnett Formula.

The formula dictates that for every £1 the Government distributes, 85p goes to England, 10p to Scotland and 5p to Wales. With only five million people, it means spending in Scotland on public services is £1,500 higher per person than in England, according to Treasury figures.

Dr Crotty said: “It smacks of double-standards and indirectly discriminates against those south of the border. Yet again we’re proved right that if we want something in the North West of England, we have to pay for it ourselves.”

A Mersey Gateway spokesman said: “The inspector at the forthcoming public inquiry into the Mersey Gateway Project has ruled that the merits of Government policy will not be considered in that inquiry.

“If Dr Crotty wishes to raise the concerns she has set out, she should do so directly with the Government, not through the public inquiry process, which must consider the project upon its merits and in light of current policy.”