The Scottish Parliament have just approved the Forth Crossing Bill, paving the way for a new, unnecessary bridge across the River Forth from Edinburgh to Fife.
Chicken Little, in the form of the First Minister Alex Salmond, has been running around telling anyone who will listen "The bridge is falling down! The bridge is falling down!"
It's an exaggeration of course, although there have been many exaggerations in the debate over the current bridge. A fake time-limit has been imposed, although no one can say what that time-limit is - only that the new bridge must be started next year otherwise there will be "dire consequences".
In fact, the cables on the existing bridge could be replaced for just £122 million. The new bridge will cost £2 billion - the most expensive bridge in the world.The Scottish Greens, along with others, have referred the whole project to the Auditor General.
Knowing how large capital infrastructure projects go in Scotland, this will be a complete nightmare that will cost more than the projected £2 billion and take many, many years.
1 comments:
I have no idea why Labour would want to help the Nats do a massive bogus investment photo-op in the runup to the election. Oh yeah, it's because they're worried about the imagined Fife backlash if they go for repair. Lame.
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