Despite what has been portrayed in the media and by our political opponents, Nottingham Conservatives are very much in favour of an Express Transit system in the city.

Indeed it was a Conservative administration in the 1980s that first mooted the concept. An efficient and well run public transport system is part of the trappings of a modern dynamic city and we dearly hope that any future system put into the City is of significant benefit for generations to come.

We have historically opposed Labour’s variant of the tram concept for a variety of reasons the three most important of which are:

• The routes are not the most efficient and seem to be politically motivated rather driven by need

• Laying the track on roads causes congestion and frustration – more track should be put down off road possibly utilising the old Victorian rail network.

• The funding model is not sustainable – it has been deliberately set up to lose the city money.

The unsustainable reason is going to be the biggest issue in this election as the Workplace Parking Levy has been touted as the solution but it clearly an unfair and unnecessary tax.

Personally, I think the funding model that has been put in place to fund the tram is unworkable as there is no incentive for the operator to raise money. The service needs to be a revenue generating asset rather than a liability. A service or institution that requires indefinite subsidy will always have the sword of Damocles hanging over its head. Most of the firms affected by the proposed new tax are in areas that are nowhere near a proposed tram or even existing bus line and they will either have to pass the cost on to their staff or leave the city.

Labour are presenting this as a green tax that will reduce congestion but it will not reduce congestion or help the environment. Take Imperial Tobacco as a case study – their lease with the City Council obliges them to have over several hundred parking spaces; even if they wanted to they could not cut back. They are serviced by one bus that operates infrequently between 8.00 a.m. and 5.00 p.m. but like most factories they have two shifts that start and end outside the time the bus runs. Their employees have no other option than to travel by car and as it is out side the city centre and they are operating at shift times they actually cause very little congestion. The new Nottingham only work tax is estimated to cost Imperial Tobacco £300,000 a year.

No business will stand for that level of additional cost when it can be easily avoided by moving. The factory will be faced with the option of passing the cost on to the workers or moving away from Nottingham. Nottingham could lose 600 jobs if Imperial Tobacco moved away. This story will be replayed over and over again and we Conservatives are genuinely fearful of the results.