Treasury minister Reynolds struggles over Lower Thames Crossing answers
A Treasury minister struggled to answer questions about a new crossing for the River Thames after a further £590 million of public money was committed to it.
The Lower Thames Crossing will link Essex and Kent but economic secretary Emma Reynolds was unable to give details of the precise location of the crossing or the total cost of the project.
She also mistakenly referred to the existing crossing being the “Dartmouth tunnel”, apparently confusing the Devon town with Dartford, the location of the crossings for traffic across the Thames.
“I meant Dartford, excuse me, I had a very early morning,” the minister told LBC Radio.
Asked about the proposed new crossing’s location, she said: “You’ll forgive me, I can’t recall the landing zone.”
The crossing will involve two tunnels under the Thames to the east of Tilbury in Essex and Gravesend in Kent.
Pressed on the cost, she said “it’s going to cost quite a lot of money”, suggesting it would be “several billion pounds”.
LBC Radio presenter Nick Ferrari told Ms Reynolds: “Is there much point continuing this conversation because you don’t know where a bridge starts, where it ends and you don’t know how much it costs?”
National Highways has estimated the cost will be between £9.2 billion and £10.2 billion depending on the funding model chosen.
It would connect the A2 and M2 in Kent to the A13 and M25 in Essex via a 2.6-mile tunnel under the Thames, which would be the UK’s longest road tunnel.
Following the LBC interview, Downing Street said the Prime Minister had “full confidence” in Ms Reynolds.
The funding for the Lower Thames Crossing will be part of the Government’s 10-year plan for infrastructure.
A new structures fund will also invest in repairing bridges, flyovers, tunnels and other transport infrastructure such as roads.
The Lower Thames Crossing is aimed at reducing congestion at Dartford.
Transport Secretary Heidi Alexander has said that the project is “essential for improving the resilience of a key freight route and is critical to our long-term trade with Europe”.
“It will speed up the movement of goods from south-east England to the Midlands and the north, crucial to thousands of jobs and businesses,” she added.
Rachel Reeves has said ministers are “going all in by going up against the painful disruption of closed bridges, crossings and flyovers”.
The Chancellor added: “This is a turning point for our national infrastructure, and we’re backing it with funding to support thousands of jobs and connect communities, delivering on our plan for change.”
It comes ahead of the Government’s infrastructure strategy, expected this week, while public procurement rules are set to be overhauled so that public bodies will have to give more weight to firms which can prove they will boost British jobs when they are bidding for contracts.
The Chancellor outlined a range of infrastructure investments as part of last week’s spending review.
Speaking on Monday at Gateshead’s Glasshouse music centre, which overlooks the Tyne Bridge, Ms Reeves said some of the £1.8 billion spending commitment will complete the renovations of the landmark.
She said: “We’ve committed part of that money together to finish the work here at the Tyne Bridge and to complete the work that the previous government started but didn’t properly fund, and also that extension of the Tyne and Wear Metro to Washington.”
The Chancellor was asked about dualling the A1 in north Northumberland which successive governments had promised to fund, as well as a costly demolition and repair to crumbling concrete Gateshead flyover.
She said transport schemes in the north “have been neglected for too long”, and added: “National Highways are looking at value for money, affordable options for the A1. The previous government put no money into those schemes, despite trumpeting them.”
On the flyover, she said: “Today, we’re announcing that investment in the Tyne Bridge but that’s the start, not the end of the investment that this government wants to put into Gateshead.”
