Quintin Jardine's blog

All these things are unarguably true, but they will not deliver a  Forth tunnel crossing rather than a bridge. The problem is cost. Three years ago, John Swinney gave Parliament cost figures on four crossing options. These showed that either tunnel option would cost 50% more than a bridge. In appraising each option six criteria were used; these did not include either ongoing maintenance cost, or the estimated life of each option. In other words, the thinking behind the appraisal was entirely short-term, what will it cost now, rather than over fifty or one hundred years. We will persuade wee Alex, or the Grey Man, whoever is the decision-maker after May, only by bringing about a sea-change in this thinking. Even then, to fund the project unhindered we will have to take control of our own revenue raising, not just some of it, but all of it. With new gas fields and maybe oil, opening up west of Shetland, this would be a good time to do that.