Sparks fly over nationalisation of M6 Toll

CALLS to nationalise the M6 Toll road provided the fireworks as the five West Midlands mayoral candidates held the first of a series of four public debates.

The issue proved a rare moment of division in a debate where “I agree with” was the most commonly heard phrase from the candidates’ mouths.

Conservative Andy Street, UKIP’s Pete Durnell, Labour’s Siôn Simon, Lib Dem Beverley Nielsen and the Green Party candidate James Burn lined up for the debate at the Black Country Living Museum.

Mr Simon, who backs making the M6 Toll free to use, said: “It is the only major road in the region with excess capacity. We need to make it free to take some pressure off our roads.”

But he was challenged by Mr Street over the cost. He said it had been put up for sale for £2 billion – but that was too high a price to pay from a regional transport budget which would be better spent on other projects such as rail and Metro lines.

Mr Simon hit back saying the sale price would be lower given no-one had yet met the asking price and the Government should pay for it as it had left short-changed the West Midlands on transport over many years.

UKIP’s official policy is to nationalise the M6 Toll, but Mr Durnell disagreed with it as usage figures show 90 to 95 per cent of HGVs passing through the region in peak times already use it.

He added that the Government would simply not pay for the road. “It’s not going to happen,” he said.

But both Mr Burn and Ms Nielsen agreed that £2 billion could be better spent on other transport projects. All candidates also agreed on the problems facing the region – deprivation, unemployment, poor public transport, and the housing crisis and there was even some agreement on solutions, reopening disused rail lines and regenerating brownfield sites.

Meanwhile the Communist party has declared a candidate for mayor in the shape of Graham Stevenson.

Coventry-born former trade union official Graham Stevenson has been handed the Communist candidacy with less than two months to go until the election – with a pledge to reject the austerity politics of the last decade.

He wants to take control of local transport and cut fares, nationalise the M6 Toll Road, tackle air quality, build affordable homes and roll out a minimum income guarantee for all.

Residents in Birmingham, Solihull, the Black Country and Coventry go to the polls on May 4 to elect the first ever West Midlands Mayor .

The Post hosts a debate on April 4 at the Birmingham Hippodrome. Email (with the words ‘Hippodrome Debate’) in the subject, your name, address and any organisation you represent with an optional question to tmmevents@trinitymirror.com