Anyone who was forced to suffer eight long years of Boris Johnson as London mayor is acutely aware of his affection for gimmicky, and often bad, ideas.
His mayoral antics pale in comparison to his latest brainwave, though. And people are pointing out the massive flaws in his ‘bright’ idea.
Stormy waters
The prime minister is considering building a bridge between Scotland and the north of Ireland. A spokesperson for Number 10 confirmed that “a range of government officials” are looking into the prospect.
The initial response from the public, however, was less than approving:
Boris’ priorities:
✅ Multi £bill vanity project he can attach his name to but will never near completion
❌ Child poverty
❌ Homelessness
❌ Rising inequality
❌ NHS understaffing & underfunding
❌ Ending austerity
❌ Ending hostile environment#BorisBridge #MondayMotivation— Rod Kelly (@rodkelly50) February 10, 2020
I'm adding the #BorisBridge to my list of 'Things That Won't Happen'
— SuzieWuzie (@mrssbarnard) February 10, 2020
Thought we had it bad with an insulting 50p. Now the Brexit Bridge is proposed to link two nations that both rejected Brexit.
Boris Johnson thinks he can save the union with £15 billion bridge https://t.co/dpoAZ8H3G6
— Michael🌱 Ⓥ #FBPE.🇺🇦 (@changed_gear) February 10, 2020
People were particularly aghast by the fact that the PM’s plan could see a bridge built over waters that the British have used as a dumping ground for over 1m tonnes of munitions – especially as the UK doesn’t even bother monitoring that military waste:
Reminder what engineers think of building a 22 mile bridge through a deep and stormy munitions dump pic.twitter.com/odNFyZD87E
— James Felton (@JimMFelton) February 10, 2020
The Irish Sea and the unused munitions, explosives and nuclear waste that the UK dumped in it might be worth considering just now – https://t.co/Le6LYQAH9v
— Deidre Brock (@DeidreBrock) February 10, 2020
Bridging divides?
Now in a symbolic sense, building bridges isn’t a bad thing (unlike Donald Trump’s wall). But in a union as divided as the UK is currently, Johnson’s grand gesture of unity may not work out quite how he intends, as people pointed out:
https://twitter.com/DonaldFrump/status/1226886582205968387
A bridge to link an independent Scotland to a United Ireland paid for by English taxpayers. Thanks Boris 👍👍👍 #borisbridge #bridge #scotlandirelandbridge https://t.co/4sTDObxlFQ
— Seán MacGobhann (@SeanMacGobhann) February 10, 2020
That would be something; Johnson trying to shore up support for the UK to stay together by building a bridge, only to have the two countries it runs between leave the Union.
At least it would give those two nations something positive to remember Westminster for. After all, for many people in Scotland and the north of Ireland, there appears to be little else that will.
Featured image via Guardian News/YouTube
