The Financial Times reports today that the prime minister鈥檚 aspirations for a tunnel or bridge between Scotland and Northern Ireland had 鈥渇allen victim to a crackdown鈥� as the Treasury struggles to control public finances.
The prime minister had previously instructed Network Rail chairman Sir Peter Hendy to consider the idea of an Irish Sea link in his review of the UK transport infrastructure.
However, a government official has briefed the FT that the 拢15bn+ project was 鈥渄ead, at least for now鈥�.
Dominic Cummings, the prime minister鈥檚 former chief adviser, described it in July as 鈥渢he world鈥檚 most stupid tunnel鈥�.
According to the Office for National Statistics, public sector net debt was 拢2,216 billion at the end of July 2021 or around 98.8% of GDP, the highest ratio since the 99.5% recorded in March 1962.
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