The new transport initiative launched by Mr Prescott is designed to try and alleviate problems in the comfort zone around the M25 in London - where there ARE real commute hour problems. These policies do not reflect the needs nor traffic use that Scottish motorists endure.

The SNP's Kenny MacAskill said: "Cloaking cuts in Scotland's infrastructure and wrapping tax increases by packaging them as green measures is fraudulent and false. It is the same old story Scotland pays and London gains."

He went on to add "Scottish transport needs are different. Our geography is different and our transport infrastructure is much poorer than south of the Border, yet First Minister Donald Dewar and Transport Minister Sarah Boyack are following a hand-me-down London policy designed for England that even London had ditched."