Boris Johnson is pushing on with £20bn plans for a bridge or tunnel across the Irish Sea while refusing to give nurses a proper pay rise.
The Prime Minister claimed the below-inflation 1% raise for NHS staff - down from a pledge of 2.1% - was "as much as we can give".
But today the government confirmed he is pushing ahead with the idea of a "fixed link" between Scotland and Northern Ireland.
An official study will be led by former Crossrail and HS2 chairman Prof Doug Oakervee and top engineer Prof Gordon Masterson, and report back this summer on whether it is be feasible.
It will examine "the feasibility, cost and timescales of constructing a fixed link between Northern Ireland and Great Britain", according to a report by Network Rail chair Sir Peter Hendy.
One previous route mooted was a gap roughly 25 miles wide between Portpatrick and Larne.
It comes despite the PM presiding over high-profile failed super-ambitious infrastructure projects when he was London mayor.
An island airport in the Thames Estuary to take Heathrow's crown was ruled out at an early stage by a government commission.
And a garden bridge "vanity project" across the Thames was never built despite £43million of public money being spent. He also briefly suggested a bridge across the English Channel in 2018.
The idea of a tunnel was nicknamed the ‘Boris burrow’ by the Sunday Telegraph, which claimed it has the “enthusiastic” backing of the Prime Minister.
The plan has never been costed but experts have previously named figures of around £15bn or £20bn. Critics have warned of munitions in the Irish Sea and the fact the island of Ireland has a different rail gauge to mainland Britain.
Scotland's First Minister Nicola Sturgeon said last month: “I don’t close my mind to suggestions like this but I suspect it’s more a diversionary tactic.”
But Transport Secretary Grant Shapps rejected her claim that the money could be better spent, saying: “It’s odd in a sense that we don’t have a connection with another part of the United Kingdom."
Comparing the idea to the Channel Tunnel, he said: “It shouldn’t be a controversial report at all”.
Mr Shapps told the BBC: "I understand that it is not the responsibility of the Scottish First Minister to connect the United Kingdom together. The Scottish First Minister doesn't even believe we should be in a United Kingdom. So I understand her perspective but I think it is wrong.
"For example, if you live in Northern Ireland, you want to know that you can reliably get the hauliers and lorry drivers in with goods from the mainland of the British Isles.
"Why would you ever be against connecting different parts of our country in a better way? It shouldn't be a controversial thought at all.
"As one small part of this Union connectivity review (we will) undertake a study of the feasibility of doing that and we will report back in the summer."
Asked if a bridge or tunnel was preferable he replied: "I imagine that you'd need to do a tunnel, just because of weather factors", but said either was possible.
