Senedd backs Newport M4 relief road in symbolic vote

The Senedd has voted in favour of the principle of creating a motorway relief road around Newport.

The non-binding motion - meaning the Welsh government does not have to obey it - was tabled by Labour, despite the party cancelling a proposed relief road when it was in office in 2019.

The Plaid Cymru government published proposals to ease congestion by closing junctions on the M4 this month.

Other options will also be considered, which could include building a new stretch of motorway or expanding the Brynglas Tunnels.

Labour's motion called on the government to rule out closing junctions and said it should "begin work on an appropriate relief road for the M4".

It passed by a margin of two votes after Labour, Tory and Reform Members of the Senedd (MSs) spoke in favour during a Welsh Parliament debate. Plaid and the Greens opposed it.

Welsh Labour leader Ken Skates said: "Where we are today is a world away from where we were in 2019."

He was the transport minister when Mark Drakeford's government decided not to build the relief road.

Deputy transport minister Mark Hooper said the question of how to reduce congestion near Newport was one "Labour proved itself completely unable of answering over a quarter of a century".

He added: "We have done what the last Labour government didn't, we have set out a clear, deliverable solution."

He denied the government had a programme of junction closures, but said it would carry out "further technical work to assess whether junction restrictions" were needed.

Reform MS Jason O'Connell said Labour was "desperately trying to distance themselves from the anti-motorist legacy of Mark Drakeford and Lee Waters".

He said Plaid promised change "but are determined to continue the same failed approached".

Reform would build a relief road, he said, paid for by a sovereign wealth fund created by a Reform UK government.