- the official report into Boris Johnson’s plan for a bridge or tunnel between Northern Ireland and Scotland has just been published
- tunnel would cost up to £208bn
- bridge would be up to £335bn
"planning, design, parliamentary and legal processes,
and construction would take nearly 30 years before the crossing could become operational, even given a smooth passage of funding and authority to proceed"
respect to Peter Hendy for at least pretending to take the whole thing seriously, with actual charts and visual designs etc
- Johnson also juggled job of being MP with editing Spectator mag from 2001 to 2005
- the @FT calculation of £4.3m doesn’t even include his first stint in Westminster from 2001-2008 because the register didn’t demand disclosure of precise payments then
Angela Rayner at #pmqs: “In no other profession in our country could someone be found guilty by an independent process and just have their mates vote them back into the job. Surely the prime minister and this government are not going to do that today?”
Boris Johnson points out that the Paterson case involved a serious family tragedy and asks whether the existing procedures allow for proper appeal: “It should be approached properly in the spirit of moderation and compassion
Rayner replies that if it was a police officer, a teacher or a doctor the public would expect the usual disciplinary processes to be pursued: "They can change the rules to allow cash for access....why is the prime minister making it up as it goes along."