Dartford River Crossing Tolls

I am grateful for this opportunity to discuss the new charging arrangements at the Dartford river crossing, particularly the recent increases. This subject is very relevant to my current constituents in Hornchurch and those whom I hope to represent, after the next general election, in Old Bexley and Sidcup. As a user of the crossing, I declare an interest. There were tolls at the crossing before the construction of the Queen Elizabeth II bridge, which opened in 1991. As part of the private finance arrangements for the construction of the bridge, the then Conservative Government promised that when construction costs had been met and an adequate maintenance fund had been established the tolls would cease. That position was reached in April 2003, but the Labour Government decided that a charge should be retained to ease congestion. They promised that the profits raised would be used to fund transport infrastructure improvements, although they did not specify where those improvements would be.