Labour has slammed the Tories saying there is “more potholes” in the UK and there is “craters on the moon” as the repair backlog has now hit a staggering “£1.63 billion.”
Transport Secretary Mark Harper was being questioned in the House of Commons over the dire state of Britain’s roads.
Harper told MPs, “We’ve set out our plan very carefully – £8.3 billion of extra money to improve the quality of local roads.”
The Shadow Transport Minister Bill Esterson told MPs, “At the last transport questions, the Secretary of State suggested that drivers know what they’re getting with a Conservative Government.
“Well, drivers know one thing they’re getting from this Government: more potholes – 100 times as many as there are craters on the Moon.
“RAC patrols attended 33% more breakdowns related to poor road maintenance than in 2022, meanwhile, AA callouts were at a five-year high.
“The road repairs backlog has gone up to an eye-watering £16.3 billion – that’s far greater than his allocation of money from scrapping the northern leg of HS2.”
Over the next 10-years the Department for Transport has earmarked £8.3 billion to repair Britain’s roads between 2023 and 2024.
Harper accused Labour for not backing the department’s plans to resurface roads and the £8.3 billion pledged.
Harper said that Labour “has not committed a single penny of money to local roads”.
He added, “The choice is clear, if you vote Conservative, you get £8.3 billion spent on roads, if you vote Labour, you get none.”
Labour MP for Newcastle upon Tyne Central and the Liberal Democrat MP doe Somerton and Frome both said that their constituents have made complaints of damage to vehicles over the state of disrepair of the roads.
Labour MP Chi Onwurah said, “Residents in West Fenham recently said to me that car mechanics must be the main beneficiaries of Conservative transport policy given the steady flow of work for them, caused by the terrible state of the roads.”
Liberal Democrat MP Sarah Dyke (Somerton and Frome) said, “Somerset is unfortunately home to tens (of) thousands of potholes.
“Persistent flooding makes this problem worse, but so does the lack of attention given to improving the future resilience of our roads.
“So, does the minister recognise the importance of future-proofing our roads with specific funding for local authorities to spend on such measures, as opposed to pothole funding that acts as only a temporary sticking plaster?”
The Tory Transport Secretary responded, “I absolutely do.
“Part of the point about giving local authorities that significant increase in funding but also setting it out over a 10-year period so that they have certainty over that longer period is exactly so that they can move away from dealing with pothole-filling and actually have a proper road resurfacing programme.”
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