FOR nearly two years now I have sat in the Welsh Parliament listening to Labour ministers churn out one backwards policy after another – especially when it comes to transport.

In a matter of months, many roads in Wales will be changed from 30mph to 20mph and I am sure the majority of people are aware of Labour’s move to scrap all major road building across the country.

And now we have found out the Welsh Government’s latest attack on motorists. Plans are being drawn up to hit drivers with fines in a move similar to London’s contentious ULEZ scheme.

The M4 near Newport and A470 at Pontypridd are the first locations in Labour’s crosshairs as part of the plans which have been revealed under the Welsh Government’s environment bill.

As far as I am concerned, it looks as though Labour ministers in CardiffBay won’t be satisfied until Wales is a complete car-free zone. I fear that eventually Wales will start looking like the set of Little House on the Prairie.

When it comes to road charging, I am against the plans for a whole host of reasons, with the main one being it is going to have a huge impact on residents.

Residents are under immense pressure with the cost-of-living and the last thing they need right now is to have more money squeezed out of them by the Welsh Government.

Maybe it’s just me, but instead of simply trying to force people out of their cars Labour ministers should be putting real alternatives in place and tackling congestion once and for all. Labour’s transport policies, as far as I am concerned, are all stick and no carrot.

And if that wasn’t bad enough already, it turns out the Deputy Minister responsible for all of these plans has been hugely hypocritical. It’s clear he says one thing and simply does another.

The Deputy Minister can often be found declaring the urgent need to get people out of their cars and onto public transport – yet it turns out he isn’t practising what he preaches.

In fact, he has claimed for nearly 12,000 miles of car journeys in the last four years – costing some £5,000 – and in that time only claimed for three train trips.

When it comes to transport – and so much more with this government – it appears to be one rule for us and another for them. It’s very much a case of do as I say, not as I do.