In 1986 Patrick Jones, Liberal-SDP Alliance parliamentary candidate for Pembrokeshire, led a march over the Cleddau Bridge to protest at the Conservative government’s failure to scrap the tolls. At the time it cost 50p to cross.
The 50-strong group of party members and supporters included a contingent of Young Liberals, dressed up in traditional Welsh costume as Rebecca Rioters.
Press reports from September 1986 quote Patrick as saying that Pembrokeshire’s then MP, Nick Edwards, had promised that the Conservatives would abolish the tolls if they won the 1974 election. As it turned out, the Conservatives lost. However, when they returned to power in 1979, they kept the tolls in place.
In his 1986 campaign leaflets, Patrick said the tolls were grossly unfair to those local people, who had to drive over the bridge to go to work. The tolls also added to the cost of anyone wanting to travel from the Pembroke area to Withybush Hospital. Finally, they made a nonsense of the Enterprise Zone located on both sides of the Milford Haven estuary.
On hearing about the removal of the tolls, Patrick Jones said, ‘I am delighted with the news. £3.1 million was collected in tolls last year. Anyone who needs to cross the bridge for work every day will save about £400 a year.’
He added, ‘I’m sorry to hear that there may be some redundancies. However, in overall terms, there should be many more job opportunities created, as the £3.1 million previously spent on tolls, should now boost the local economy and the Haven Enterprize Zone, in particular.’
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