Tunneltolink Scotland and Ulster moves astepcloser

A TUNNEL linking Great Britain and Northern Ireland could move a step closer this week when a government review recommends a feasibility study.

The Union Connectivity Review by Sir Peter Hendy, the Network Rail chairman, is expected formally to look into a fixed link between the two islands, probably between Stranraer in Scotland and Larne in Northern Ireland.

An interim report on Wednesday is expected to call on experts to evaluate the best fixed link – a bridge or tunnel.

A spokesman said Sir Peter would be advising on connectivity between all four nations, “whether it is better rail services, new stations, air links for remote communities, or improving the state of our roads”.

The tunnel – details of which were first disclosed by The Sunday Telegraph last month – already has the backing of Boris Johnson, who first proposed a fixed link across the Irish Sea in 2018, and Alister Jack, the Scotland Secretary. The “Boris burrow” would go some way to smoothing flows of freight between Great Britain and Northern Ireland.

Sir Peter is understood to have rejected a bridge as bad weather could keep it closed for up to a third of the year. There is also wartime unexploded ordnance on the sea bed, which could be a risk to the structure and to builders.

Scottish civil servants in Edinburgh who report to the SNP-led government have been told not to engage with the review. Nicola Sturgeon, the First Minister, is thought to be looking at May’s Scottish Parliament elections with a view to pressing a case for an early vote on Scottish independence.

To counter this, the Conservative Union Resources Unit has started weekly meetings to coordinate efforts to stop the SNP’s attempts to break up the UK. Writing for the Telegraph’s website today, Sir Bernard Jenkin, the senior Tory MP, said: “It is in all our mutual interests that the SNP is not allowed to destroy the UK.”