I’ve written a couple of times about how the Welsh Government published a review of options to tackle congestion on the M4 at Newport that had ruled out demand management before it began; now Labour’s Welsh leader is pretending the option doesn’t exist.
Labour’s Welsh leader has called for the Plaid Cymru administration to start work on an M4 relief road – seven years after his party had axed it.
Ken Skates told BBC Wales that there was “no other option on the table” to solve congestion in Newport, and has backed a version of the original plan with changes.
The move will be seen by some as an attempt to distance Welsh Labour from part of the legacy of former First Minister Mark Drakeford.
Labour will table a vote in the Senedd on Wednesday calling for an “appropriate relief road” to be built.
It looks like cynical political manoeuvring to me, but what about that line “no other option on the table”?
In a sense, Skates, who has previous been the Welsh Government’s transport minister, is right that demand management is not on the table. But then neither is the “amended version of the original black route” that he wants, so he is being disingenuous.
The BBC’s reporting is by a political reporter, who might not understand the transport issues fully and prefers to stick to the political argy-bargy. But there are a couple of interesting hints that the options on the table might not be the only options:
Skates’ announcement comes weeks after the Welsh government set out some options for tackling congestion…
And:
A report published earlier in October set out a number of alternatives …
Let’s leave the last word to (I’m just) Ken, reflecting the old adage that politics is the art of what the politicians have the guts to put forward:
Their need for congestion to be dealt with can only realistically be met through getting to work on a relief road.
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