Boris Johnson’s plan for what a former aide described as “the world’s most stupid tunnel” between Scotland and Northern Ireland has been ditched as the Treasury clamps down on spending.
The prime minister initially proposed a 28-mile bridge connecting Stranraer in Scotland to Larne in Northern Ireland in 2018, but the £15bn project was widely derided by engineers because of the practical obstacles to construction in a stretch of water which is more than 1,000 feet deep in places.
An unnamed government official with knowledge of Treasury spending negotiations told the Financial Times the plans are “dead, at least for now”.
Elsewhere, the government will push back a number of post-Brexit border controls from October and January next year until July 2022, David Frost has confirmed.
It came after the Brexit minister issued a fresh warning to the EU that Britain is not afraid to unilaterally suspend the Northern Ireland (NI) protocol agreed by Mr Johnson last year if officials continue to dismiss renegotiations.
