Ruth Kelly backs congestion charge scheme in Manchester

The government has announced its backing for congestion charge plans in Greater Manchester in the midst of a rather heated debate with the Conservative party transport spokesperson, Theresa Villiers.

The plans would require drivers to pay up to £5 to gain entry to the city centre at peak times, making Manchester the first provincial city to follow London's example.

The plans will also be supplemented by millions of pounds of government support for public transport improvements, including more cycle lanes.

Transport minister Ruth Kelly has given the scheme the green light in a statement to parliament today. The system, which would come into place from 2013, would be in place from 7am to 9.30am and from 4pm to 6.30pm on weekdays, and will be offset by £2.8 billion of public transport improvements.

Ms Kelly told the House of Commons that the plans would "deliver Greater Manchester and its citizens a world-class public transport system for a world-class city".

She also revealed the government had provisionally made £1.5 billion available to support the scheme, with the rest of the £2.8 billion to come from the city authorities themselves.

Charges would be triggered by a series of electronic beacons and would vary according to the starting point of the journey. Cities like Bristol and Bath are looking to introduce their own schemes in the future, but Norwich and Edinburgh have ruled out doing so.

There has been a mixed reception to the plans from the Labour party. Manchester Blackley's MP Graham Stringer predicted that disgruntled motorists would take their revenge at the ballot boxes, with marginal seats on the fringes being particularly vulnerable areas.

"To have a Labour government, you have to have an alliance not only of core Labour voters but of people who before 1997 in constituencies like Bury North and Bolton West didn't vote Labour.

"The congestion tax is another pressure on that coalition. It is another wedge that will break that coalition up and make it much more difficult to deliver a Labour government."

The Conservative leader of Trafford Council, Susan Williams, said the scheme was a very risky proposition for Labour.

"To bring in the congestion charge at a time when the roads of Greater Manchester and the country have been blockaded by truck drivers and motorcyclists protesting about taxes on the motorist seems to be an act of political suicide."

Sir Richard Leese, the leader of Manchester City Council, was more confident about the reception the plans would receive from local people.

"My belief is that if the politicians of Greater Manchester have the strength and confidence to do what is very clearly in the long-term interests of this conurbation and all its people, we won't be punished at the ballot box, we will be rewarded for that strength of purpose."