Scotland’s First Minister Humza Yousaf has been savagely mocked on X (formerly Twitter) after announcing a potential new plan for a series of undersea tunnels.
The plans, which would involve linking some of Scotland’s islands using tunnels, were mocked online by social media user Brian Spilei.
Retweeting a post about the potential new tunnels, Mr Spilei said: “There is no train from Glasgow Airport to the city centre.”
Mr Spilei’s post about Mr Yousaf opened up a debate on Twitter/X about the need for more trains and transport links in Scotland, rather than building undersea tunnels.
Some responded saying there is a bus running, and there are other areas without train links, to which Brian responded that seven million people use the airport a year.
However, other users agreed, as one wrote: “Stop it with your facts Brian. You will upset Humza,” while another agreed, writing: “Yousaf is in the world of fantasy.”
According to The National, Mr Yousaf is open to discussing the possibility of linking some of Scotland’s islands with tunnels.
Mr Yousaf was asked about whether he would endorse such a scheme months after several Scottish MPs went to the Faroe Islands to visit a tunnel connecting Streymoy and Sandoy. The 10.2-kilometre tunnel reportedly cost around £9.8m per kilometre.
On the new tunnels, Mr Yousaf told the publication: “We’ve always been open as a Government to fixed links. It’s a legitimate question, but we’re discussing this at a time when the UK Government has now cut our capital budget by £1.3billion.”
Mr Yousaf explained that their capital budget was constrained but that he was “definitely open to conversations about fixed links”.
Mr Yousaf added that Scotland was already investing a lot of its capital infrastructure into building new vessels over the next couple of years.
While a new tunnel is not on the horizon, the existing link between Streymoy to Sandoy is not the first, but the fourth of its kind. Despite this, Scotland is the first country in the world to have an undersea roundabout.
The roundabout in question is part of another tunnel that links Streymoy and Eysturoy. After the current batch of four tunnels, councillors from the Shetlands want another four to be built for them.
It is hoped that the new tunnels will reduce journey times and replace the ferries currently used for the task at hand.
