BORIS Johnson has abandoned his dream of connecting Northern Ireland to the mainland by road – after Rishi Sunak refused to pay for it.
Speaking publicly for the first time about his doomed plan, the PM accepted “the tunnel or bridge is perhaps – although it remains an ambition – it’s not the most immediate.”
The undersea cross Indra had been widely criticised and mocked – not least by BoJo’s ex adviser Dominic Cummings who branded it the “world’s most stupid tunnel.”
But work on designs for the 31.5 mile underwater route from Portpatrick in Dumfries & Galloway to Larne in Northern Ireland had been drawn up in Whitehall and given an early green light.
Asked about his plans for big infrastructure projects like HS2, Mr Johnson told reporters: “You’ll have to wait until the spending review and the integrated rail plan which is also coming out.
“But it will be wonderful for all parts of the North, the North East, North West, Leeds, Nottingham, Derby, everywhere, Newcastle, Liverpool, Manchester, we have wonderful plans.
“What I would say perhaps about the tunnel or bridge is perhaps although it remains an ambition it’s not the most immediate.
“It will be delivered substantially after the rest of the programme just described.”
It’s understood the Treasury splatted the plan over the multibillion pound price tag and other complications.
