Sturgeon urged to drop ‘triple whammy of anti-driver taxes’
Nicola Sturgeon has been urged to drop plans to hit Scottish motorists with a "triple whammy of anti-driver taxes".
Scottish Conservative leader Douglas Ross criticised the First Minister over controversial moves to allow councils to introduce workplace parking levies.
He also took aim at plans for a congestion charge in Edinburgh and potential road tolls in Glasgow – both cities where SNP councillors currently hold power.
Mr Ross accused the SNP of seeking to "tax people off the roads by hammering anyone who owns a car".
The Federation of Small Businesses has asked councils to "steer clear" of additional costs for businesses for at least two years.
Speaking at First Minister's Questions, Ms Sturgeon said she did not support road tolls, "but I do support local councils being empowered to consider the tough issues that they face, to consult with the public and to take sensible decisions".
She said: “What is hammering people, including motorists, across the country is the Tory-created cost-of-living crisis.
“Which an out- of-touch Prime Minister and an outof-touch Chancellor of the Exchequer refuse to do enough about.
“Perhaps we should focus on the immediate problems being faced by people and the solutions that need to come from Douglas Ross’s colleagues at Westminster.”
Ms Sturgeon pointed to the “challenging decisions” that need to be made to meet climate obligations.
Mr Ross said: “We’re in the middle of a cost-of-living crisis, with prices at petrol stations rising globally.
"Yet Nicola Sturgeon wants to tax people off the roads by hammering anyone who owns a car.
“If the First Minister carries on down this road, Nicola Sturgeon and her SNP candidates are going to force the Scottish economy into the slow lane.
“The commuter tax should be abandoned, toll charges should be ruled out, and her workplace parking tax should be ditched – before Scots are hit by a triple whammy of anti-driver taxes.”
The SNP'S Edinburgh manifesto says it will introduce a "commuter charging zone at the city boundary to discourage those living outwith the city from driving in ". meanwhile, the party's Glasgow manifesto says it will "review options around road-user charging and at-city-boundary congestion charging models".
Meanwhile, Labour-run councils will not impose workplace parking levy charges on commuters, the party has pledged.
Neil Bibby, Scottish Labour’s transport spokesperson, hit out at the introduction of the scheme, which was approved by Parliament earlier this year.
Mr Bibby said: “Workers across Scotland are struggling to make ends meet and now the SNP want to pour fuel on the fire by making workers cough up hundreds of pounds for the privilege of going to work.
“The SNP leadership must disavow the pledges made in Edinburgh and Glasgow and give a cast-iron commitment that none of their councils will plough ahead with these reckless plans.”