Congestion charge 'misinformation' spread, MP says

MP Layla Moran said she kept hearing residents saying they could not go to the John Radcliffe Hospital because of the £5 congestion charge, which she said was "just not true"

A Lib Dem MP has said Reform and the Conservative parties have been spreading "mis- and disinformation" around a controversial road scheme.

MP for Oxford West and Abingdon Layla Moran said many people might have been avoiding the centre of Oxford due to concerns over the temporary £5 congestion charge that came into force on 29 October.

She said she had asked Oxfordshire County Council for better communication around the scheme and appealed to residents to check its website about the exemptions.

Councillors in Oxfordshire from Reform and the Conservative have refuted the claims and criticised the scheme's implementation.

The scheme applies to motorists using six Oxford streets, including Marston Ferry Road which is a link to the John Radcliffe Hospital.

Ms Moran said she kept hearing residents saying they could not go to the hospital because of the congestion charge, which she said was "just not true".

She added there had been "shameful interventions" by Reform and the Conservative parties, "literally spreading mis- and disinformation".

"It is not true that we are excluding people from the centre of Oxford," Ms Moran said.

The MP appealed to residents to "base your opinion on the facts" rather than social media posts and said she would advocate if any changes were needed.

The scheme is expected to be replaced by a traffic filter trial after major roadworks on Botley Road are finished next summer.

Reform UK Didcot South councillor Hao Du said the congestion charge had been introduced "without transparency" and called its implementation "shambolic".

"I find it rather disingenuous of the Liberal Democrats to accuse anyone who opposes the congestion charge of supposedly spreading misinformation," he said.

He said that while it was technically possible to drive from Didcot to Cowley Road "without passing through a charging point", digital tools such as Sat-Nav and Google Maps "do not real time reflect traffic restrictions".

Mr Du called the Oxfordshire Travel Plan's objective to reduce car use by 50% by 2040 "completely crazy" due to the county's growing population.

"The only way you do that is to make it ever more difficult, ever more costly, ever more confusing and inconvenient for people to drive, and that is what this scheme is clearly about," he said.

The county council's Conservatives leader Liam Walker said he "completely refutes that allegation".

"The risk of misinformation and confusion has been caused by the way they've implemented this scheme because they had to hit that December deadline to reduce congestion," he said.

"It's got absolutely nothing to do with my party, Reform party, or anyone else that's speaking out against this."