logo
Cringe moment Treasury minister has NO idea how much new £10bn tunnel costs or where it is while announcing it on TV

Cringe moment Treasury minister has NO idea how much new £10bn tunnel costs or where it is while announcing it on TV

The Sun16-06-2025
A TREASURY minister appeared to have a meltdown live on TV today, blaming a series of blunders on a "very early morning".
Emma Reynolds was being interviewed about the new £10billion Lower Thames Crossing which will link Essex and Kent.
6
6
6
But as she was grilled live on LBC, she forgot where the project is taking place.
On top of that blunder in the car-crash interview, she couldn't remember how much it is going to cost either.
Frantically leafing through her papers, she asked the LBC interviewer to "forgive" her for not being able to "recall" the key details.
Reynolds also appeared to confuse the Devon town of Dartmouth with Dartford in Kent.
Appearing on LBC Radio, the bumbling minister said: "I meant Dartford, excuse me, I had a very early morning.
"You'll forgive me, I can't recall the landing zone."
Presenter Nick Ferrari then asked critically: "So the crossing that you're talking about, you don't know where it is?"
She went on to vaguely say it would connect the North with "key ports" in the South East.
Ferrari then took it upon himself to inform Reynolds that the project will see two tunnels constructed under the Thames to the east of Tilbury in Essex and Gravesend in Kent.
When he pressed her on the cost of building the crossing, she again resorted to vague statements.
She floundered: "It's going to cost quite a lot of money, several billion pounds."
The presenter savagely asked: "You don't know that either, do you?'
"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?"
Rachel Reeves called the project a "turning point for our national infrastructure".
The £9.2billion project will comprise more than 14 miles of roads, and the Transport Secretary gave formal approval in March.
Heidi Alexander said the "crucial" project has been been stuck in "planning limbo for far too long".
National Highways will build the crossing, and construction could start as early as next year.
It is expected to take between six and eight years to finish.
£1.2billion has already been spent on design and planning work.
6
6
6
Orange background

Try Our AI Features

Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:

Comments

No comments yet...

Related Articles

Britain risks being ‘dumping ground' for forced labour goods
Britain risks being ‘dumping ground' for forced labour goods

Rhyl Journal

time36 minutes ago

  • Rhyl Journal

Britain risks being ‘dumping ground' for forced labour goods

Existing rules are failing to prevent products flown from Xinjiang, where Beijing is accused of employing Uighur Muslim people against their will, ending up on UK shelves, according to a new report. In the 99-page document, MPs and peers on the influential Joint Committee on Human Rights (JCHR) called on ministers to impose import bans on goods linked to forced labour. Mandatory human rights due diligence for UK firms and penalties for flouting the requirements should also be introduced, the cross-party group said. This would establish a legal duty for businesses to manage any risk of human rights abuse in their operations, such as by requiring suppliers to fulfil certain conditions, rather than the existing 'voluntary' approach. Key to UK laws governing forced labour is the Modern Slavery Act 2015, but the committee warned a lack of 'enforceable legislation' is leaving loopholes in the system. 'The evidence we heard demonstrates that goods produced by forced labour are being sold in the UK,' the JCHR said. 'Cargo flights are permitted to bring goods directly from the capital of Xinjiang to the UK unhindered and media investigation has provided strong evidence that tomatoes produced under forced labour conditions are used in products sold in UK supermarkets.' Britain's approach to imports has fallen behind other key markets like the EU and the US, which have introduced bans on goods linked to forced labour, according to the report. 'The UK's lack of equivalent legislation puts the UK at risk of becoming a dumping ground for goods that cannot be sold elsewhere,' it said. It recommended the Government bring in a similar measure to establish who is responsible for preventing the import of such goods and what happens if goods are confiscated. This ban should make clear that no company that uses or allows state-imposed forced labour in its supply chains can import goods to the UK, the committee said. Concerns have also been raised over the UK's free trade deal with India, where human rights groups estimate more than 11 million people are living in modern slavery. Meanwhile, more than a million people are estimated to live in modern slavery in the US, according to the same data, compiled by the International Labour Organisation and Walk Free in partnership with the UN. The JCHR said the UK could learn from the EU's policy of using 'political clauses' in its deals to promote the bloc's values, as it continues negotiations with some Gulf states amid concerns about their human rights records. It urged the Government to make it an explicit policy to include provisions concerning forced labour in future trade agreements, and to avoid entering negotiations with countries participating in state-imposed forced labour. Sir Keir Starmer's Government has sought to balance a revival of relations with Beijing in its pursuit of growth with matters of national security amid concerns about Chinese interference in Britain and human rights concerns. China has denied accusations it is subjecting the Uighur minority to forced labour. Lord David Alton, chairman of the JCHR, said its inquiry had seen 'shocking evidence' of human rights abuses in a wide range of industries at the heart of UK trade. 'Most of all, we want to see strong leadership from the Government. It's intolerable in the 21st century that we profiteer on the broken backs of slave labour, from Uighur servitude in Xinjiang to child labour in the cobalt mines of the Congo, and elsewhere,' he said. 'The Government knows (the) nature of the problem and the challenge but meaningful action has been lacking.'

'Everyone's on edge': Epping braces for another hotel protest
'Everyone's on edge': Epping braces for another hotel protest

Sky News

timean hour ago

  • Sky News

'Everyone's on edge': Epping braces for another hotel protest

Tracey's cheese toastie is getting cold. She's explaining to me how hacked off she is about the asylum hotel in Epping, there is a lot to get off her chest. This Essex commuter town has seen a series of protests around the Bell Hotel where asylum seekers have been housed for the past few years. The catalyst last week was an Ethiopian man, who had only recently arrived on a small boat, appearing in court charged with three counts of sexual assault on a local girl. Tracey was in the crowd demonstrating last Thursday when things turned violent, with some protesters clashing with police. Eight officers suffered injuries along with two hotel employees. Tracey told Sky News: "I've been here since I was four years old, I'm sixty now and we've never had any trouble like this before. "I'm sick to the skin of it all, I can't wait for it all to be over. "Everyone's on edge now. There's a lot of hostility so I think they (the migrants) should go. "I'm not a racist and I'm not prejudiced but this has just gone too far for this town. "You shouldn't relocate them, you should send them back to where they came from, simple as that. "Then it will be restored, the peace." She's angry at the government's response and the way she feels communities have not been listened to. She told Sky News: "They are going to have a lot of protests on their hands if they don't do anything about it. "So watch this space!" She went back to her cheese toastie and chips. Essex Police officers are preparing for another demonstration in Epping later with a march planned from the hotel to the council offices, where local politicians are due to discuss the problems. The chief constable has promised that his officers will facilitate peaceful protest while warning troublemakers they will be robustly dealt with. As we walked along the main shopping street with our camera, a man wound down the window of his partner's Mini and shouted about the violence last week. We asked him to stop and explain what he meant. It turned out Keith was at the protest too, his son was arrested and charged with criminal damage. "My son is actually going to court because he shook the Bell hotel sign and they are trying to do him with criminal damage," he said. "If they arrest somebody there will be five people to take their place," he warned - suggesting that people will show up regardless. "It will go on until it stops, it'll stop when they (the migrants) get moved out." Not everyone feels the same way - another woman who did not want to give her name said she strongly disagreed with the protests at the hotel. She told us: "I don't think an angry mob outside somewhere where people are staying within our community is the right way to go about it. "They could be demonstrating outside the Home Office." It is a divisive issue that the government clearly can't solve quickly. They are aiming to stop using hotels to house asylum seekers by 2029. Very few people in Epping feel they can wait that long. They want solutions now.

Gaps in Len McCluskey's memory must be filled one way or another
Gaps in Len McCluskey's memory must be filled one way or another

Times

timean hour ago

  • Times

Gaps in Len McCluskey's memory must be filled one way or another

Len McCluskey has questions to answer RAY MCMANUS/SPORTSFILE In his last major investigation for The Times before his untimely death, Andrew Norfolk, the reporter whose work exposed the grooming gangs scandal, turned his forensic eye to the Unite trade union. In a series of reports for this newspaper, Mr Norfolk revealed that a company owned by a friend of the union's then general secretary, Len McCluskey, was paid at least £95 million for the construction of a hotel and conference centre in Birmingham initially meant to cost £7 million. This week an independent report commissioned by Sharon Graham, Mr McCluskey's successor at Unite, showed the situation to be even worse. Ms Graham had asked Martin Bowdery KC, a barrister specialising in construction, to investigate the hotel project, for which Mr McCluskey was a vocal advocate. The inquiry concluded that the cost of the hotel had in fact ballooned to £112 million. That was £74.5 million more than its market value. As a result, Unite has had to wipe £66 million from its accounts. An audit accompanying the KC's report concluded that under Mr McCluskey's leadership there was a 'pervasive fraud environment' at Unite. The Serious Fraud Office (SFO) is pursuing its own investigation. Mr McCluskey, an avowed socialist and admirer of Jeremy Corbyn, never shy of voicing his opinions on Labour politics, clearly has serious questions to answer. Mr Bowdery's report claims that the union leader was flown to watch his beloved Liverpool FC in two Champions League finals, in Kyiv and Madrid, by the Flanagan Group, the construction firm alleged to have overcharged Unite by at least £30 million when building the hotel. The report also lists five other occasions on which the union leader was taken to watch Liverpool, enjoying matchday hospitality courtesy of the Flanagans, whom he described as 'good friends'. Mr McCluskey said that as far as he could recall he paid his own way. Unite officials and lawyers were uneasy about Flanagan, which the report said had a history of 'poor performance, delays [and] cost overruns'. Mr McCluskey is said to have overruled them. He denies doing so, and through his lawyers has denounced Ms Graham's inquiry as 'inaccurate, selective and highly misleading'. The ultimate judgment will be made by the SFO but Ms Graham believes there is enough evidence to support criminal action against two 'very senior' former Unite officials. South Wales police are undertaking an investigation involving alleged bribery, fraud, money laundering and tax evasion. It is not often that The Times agrees with Ms Graham but she is to be commended for her courage in taking on vested interests within a vast and powerful union of some 1.2 million members straddling the private and public sectors. She told this newspaper of the 'horrendous' attacks she endured from supporters of Mr McCluskey after promising to investigate the hotel project. She has described being 'followed home' and subjected to 'despicable online abuse'. There is much to criticise about Unite's positioning under Ms Graham's leadership, not least its intransigence over refuse collection strikes in Birmingham, but whatever her politics, she is at least committed to uncovering the truth. As Ms Graham says, multiple investigations suggest 'rank incompetence … or something else' during Mr McCluskey's reign. It now falls to the SFO to establish what that 'something else' might have been. It should expedite its inquiry as swiftly as possible. Unite pays £1.5 million a year to ­affiliate to the Labour Party and contributes ­significant sums to individual Labour MPs. It is too significant a political player to remain under a cloud of suspicion about its past integrity. The facts as they pertain to Mr McCluskey must be established, even if recalling some of them appears to be beyond our Len.

DOWNLOAD THE APP

Get Started Now: Download the App

Ready to dive into a world of global content with local flavor? Download Daily8 app today from your preferred app store and start exploring.
app-storeplay-store