THE Scottish Secretary will today defend a new pro-Union transport plan for the first time since Boris Johnson abandoned one its big ideas, a fixed link between Scotland and Northern Ireland.
Alister Jack will hail Sir Peter Hendy’s Union Connectivity Review as a potential “economic and lifestyle game-changer” before publications of its final recommendations.
However one of the review’s early suggestions - a feasibility study into a 30-mile bridge or tunnel from Scotland to Ulster - is going nowhere.
The Prime Minister, who wanted the link to be a symbol of the Union, downgraded the £20bn scheme to a long-term “ambition” last month.
The PM’s former aide, Dominic Cummings, had called it the “world’s most stupid tunnel”.
Mr Jack had insisted the idea was “fantastic”, despite Belfast and Edinburgh saying the money could be far better spent elsewhere.
It was finally killed off by Chancellor Rishi Sunak as unaffordable, and will not feature in his budget or spending review later this month.
READ MORE: Boris Johnson backs away from 'world's most stupid tunnel'
Mr Jack, who will take part in a roundtable discussion on the review at the Tory conference in Manchester, said: “For the first time, we have taken a comprehensive look at connectivity across the UK as a whole. Sir Peter has identified key strategic corridors, the arteries through which the economic lifeblood of this country courses.
“His approach has not been to look at transport links individually, but to understand how they interconnect and interact, regardless of borders.
“Evaluating road, rail, air and sea links in this holistic fashion can help us address the too-often sclerotic nature of transport today.
“I firmly believe this innovative methodology can shape transport links which work better for business. That’s good for the companies involved, good for their customers, good for the environment, and a potential economic game-changer as we strive to level up communities right across the country.
“It also offers hope for people who currently have to endure grinding commutes and the misery of unreliable transport options.
“Transport touches us all and Britons deserve connectivity fit for the 21st Century. In Sir Peter’s work, I firmly believe that we have a blueprint to deliver exactly that.”
Why are you making commenting on The Herald only available to subscribers?
It should have been a safe space for informed debate, somewhere for readers to discuss issues around the biggest stories of the day, but all too often the below the line comments on most websites have become bogged down by off-topic discussions and abuse.
heraldscotland.com is tackling this problem by allowing only subscribers to comment.
We are doing this to improve the experience for our loyal readers and we believe it will reduce the ability of trolls and troublemakers, who occasionally find their way onto our site, to abuse our journalists and readers. We also hope it will help the comments section fulfil its promise as a part of Scotland's conversation with itself.
We are lucky at The Herald. We are read by an informed, educated readership who can add their knowledge and insights to our stories.
That is invaluable.
We are making the subscriber-only change to support our valued readers, who tell us they don't want the site cluttered up with irrelevant comments, untruths and abuse.
In the past, the journalist’s job was to collect and distribute information to the audience. Technology means that readers can shape a discussion. We look forward to hearing from you on heraldscotland.com
Comments & Moderation
Readers’ comments: You are personally liable for the content of any comments you upload to this website, so please act responsibly. We do not pre-moderate or monitor readers’ comments appearing on our websites, but we do post-moderate in response to complaints we receive or otherwise when a potential problem comes to our attention. You can make a complaint by using the ‘report this post’ link . We may then apply our discretion under the user terms to amend or delete comments.
Post moderation is undertaken full-time 9am-6pm on weekdays, and on a part-time basis outwith those hours.
Read the rules hereLast Updated:
Report this comment Cancel