LABOUR has hit back at Prime Minister David Cameron’s claim that their plans to cancel the A27 Arundel bypass were made for political and not environmental reasons.

Nancy Platts, the party’s candidate for Brighton Kemptown, said Mr Cameron’s suggestions were “without foundation”.

The Prime Minister said the plan to cancel the £250 million road project was because Labour was not interested in the lives of constituents living in the Conservative stronghold of Arundel where Nick Herbert is defending a majority of almost 17,000.

The comment came after the Labour Party said in their manifesto they would not go ahead with the Arundel bypass in a bid to fund a nationwide freeze on rail fares.

Appearing on The Andrew Marr Show yesterday, Mr Cameron also said SNP MPs would not care about the concerns of English voters if they were part of the next government.

He said Labour’s plans regarding the A27 were an example of what was to come. He said: “We have already seen Labour cancelling important infrastructure projects in the South of England, in the South West.

“They have said: ‘We don’t care about these things because they don’t matter politically’.

“Imagine what it would be like with SNP MPs backing up a weak [Labour administration].”

Ms Platts said: “We have been very clear that we are going ahead with the A27 project and the only thing on hold is the Arundel bypass because of concerns about the environmental impact on the South Downs National Park.

“The Labour Party is interested in the whole of the UK. We will fight to win in every single seat.

“Mr Cameron is scaremongering. Ed Miliband is very, very clear that we are not going into coalition with the SNP.

“We want a United Kingdom. We don’t want to see the UK broken up.”

Peter Kyle, Labour candidate for Hove, added: “Labour delivered the AMEX Stadium despite strong opposition, plus the South Downs National Park, and the transformation of Brighton and Hove’s seafront.

“Our record of investment for the future is in stark contrast to the crumbling seafront under this government.”

Background

Proposals for a bypass around Arundel have been mooted since the 1950s.

Plans for a dual carriageway from Crossbush over the Arun flood plain and across the River Arun through Tortington Common and Binstead Wood were axed when Labour came to power in 1997.

Government funding announced in December allocated up to £250 million for a new Arundel bypass.

It is one of four schemes proposed for Sussex with improvements in the pipeline for the Chichester bypass, the A27 through Worthing and Lancing and the A27 from Lewes to Polegate.