British PM wants green light for road privatisation

Sovereign wealth funds, pension funds and private investors could take control of Britain's main roads under plans to be announced by Prime Minister David Cameron in his pre-budget speech on Monday. Tolling could also be introduced to help fund new roads as the government seeks to repair an infrastructure which Cameron will claim is "falling behind our competitors," his Downing Street office said. The leader has already asked the Department for Transport and the Treasury to carry out a feasibility study on the proposed changes to road financing, results of which will be announced at the end of the year. "We need to look urgently at the options for getting large-scale private investment into the national roads network," Cameron will say. "Road tolling is one option - but we are only considering this for new, not existing, capacity." The Conservative Party leader will point out that much of Britain's infrastructure is already funded by the private sector, and will question why Britain's roads still rely on public finances. "There is now an urgent need to repair the decades-long degradation of our national infrastructure, and to build for the future with as much confidence and ambition as the Victorians once did," he will add. Motoring group AA warned that the proposals could be "the thin end of the wedge", opening the way for surge in tolling.