Welsh Labour criticised over calls for M4 relief road after axing plans while in government

Ella Groves – ICNN Senedd Reporter

Welsh Labour’s calls for an M4 relief road have been criticised after the party scrapped the project while in power.

The party tabled a motion on Wednesday October 21 describing Welsh Government plans for tackling congestion on the M4 around Newport as “inadequate” – and called for work to begin on “an appropriate relief road”.

Plaid Cymru MS Lyn Ackerman said she was in “awe” of Labour’s “barefaced cheek” to put forward the motion after cancelling the previous scheme in 2019.

In an amendment to the motion, Plaid Cymru accused previous Welsh Governments of failing to tackle the “long-standing issue of congestion and poor resilience on the M4 around Newport”.

However, despite the criticism, the motion passed, receiving cross-party support from Reform UK and the Welsh Conservatives.

Reform’s shadow transport minister, Jason O’Connell, criticised Labour for failing to build the relief road while in power – but clarified his party would support the motion.

He said: “We welcome the decision and we congratulate Welsh Labour on taking 27 years to come to the same conclusion that it took us exactly one minute to make.”

The shadow minister also took aim at Plaid Cymru and their proposed solutions, declaring it was “good news” for motorists with offers of “more studies, more assessments and even more delays”.

Referencing tweets by Mark Hooper in 2019, Mr O’Connell criticised the now-deputy transport minister for having previously stated he wanted to discourage car use on the M4 because of climate change.

Mr O’Connell said: “They call us climate conspiracy theorists, of course, yet they’re the ones blocking the relief road as part of their net-zero agenda. That is their design: punish motorists and push them onto public transport.”

“Sheer hypocrisy”

Conservative MS Natasha Asghar said the debate made her feel as though she had “walked into the twilight zone”.

Confirming she and her Conservative colleagues would support the motion, Ms Asghar said it would be “remiss” of her not to acknowledge the “sheer hypocrisy of the Labour party”.

She said: “Let’s not all forget, Labour were in power here for 27 years before being turfed out in May. You had more than a quarter of a century to do something to solve the M4 problem, but you did nothing.”

Ms Asghar, who represents Casnewydd Islwyn, also criticised Plaid Cymru’s proposals to close junctions on the M4, stressing that closing junctions 25, 26, and 27 would not be “the answer to everyone’s prayers”.

She said closing junctions would not provide “any sort of relief”, suggesting it would instead move traffic to Newport’s A-roads and residential streets.

“Building better”

Labour leader, and former transport minister, Ken Skates defended the motion, suggesting plans for an M4 relief road did not go ahead in 2019 “for very good reason”.

He said: “The cost at the time, at a period of terrible uncertainty, was prohibitive. It was too much money at the time, with too few options available to pay for it.”

Mr Skates said his government had been planning for a no-deal Brexit, with funds being prepared to help businesses, farmers, and public services with “the chaos that would have come”.

He also acknowledged environmental concerns around building the relief road but stressed that “tackling climate change and tackling economic decline are not mutually exclusive objectives”.

The key, he suggested, is “building better”, with revisions to existing plans allowing for the inclusion of dedicated bus rapid transport and active travel routes along the M4.

“Major problem”

The deputy transport minister accepted congestion on the M4 around Newport is a “major problem”. The question, he said, is how to solve it.

Mr Hooper told members it is a question Labour proved “completely incapable of answering in over a quarter of a century”.

He said: “Let us be clear about where we are today. There was previously a relief-road proposal for the M4 around Newport – one that had cost tens of millions to develop.

“Labour ministers decided not to proceed with it. Labour ministers subsequently removed protection for this route. What was called the black route is no longer a live proposition because of these decisions.”

He concluded: “We have made a clear decision that road and engineering interventions must form part of the long-term solution.

“This is a serious and credible approach, focused on delivery, rather than opportunism and slogans.”

The motion was passed with 46 votes for and 44 against.

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