Road charging 'will go ahead' - Road charging will definitely happen

Despite assurances from the transport secretary Douglas Alexander that he would listen to concerns about the Government's road-charging plans, roads minister Stephen Ladyman has said that the scheme will definitely go ahead.

In a parliamentary debate yesterday, Ladyman told MPs: 'Road pricing is inevitable. I see no alternative to it in the long term. There will be national road pricing. We have said that will happen around the middle of the next decade.'

Road charging is in the public spotlight at the moment because of an online petition against it on the Prime Minister's website, which has attracted over 1.4 million signatures and is set to hit two million by next week.

The petition has prompted Downing Street to respond, and it is likely that each signatory to the petition will receive an e-mail from the Prime Minister explaining the plans in further detail.