My letter from The Scotsman 1/6/09

It is encouraging to read that the Conservative shadow Treasury spokesman Philip Hammond has agreed to look in detail at proposals for building a second Forth road bridge (Tories may back SNP bridge cash proposal, Friday). When he does, I hope he will agree that the case for a new bridge is fatally flawed. The finance secretary John Swinney has justified spending £2bn on a new bridge on the bogus excuse that he “cannot be confident” that cable drying will arrest the corrosion on the old bridge. However, the bridge’s chief engineer, Barry Colford told myself and Paul Tetlaw of Transform Scotland last July that he was “highly confident” that the process, now being installed, would work. Mr Colford’s press office recently confirmed this opinion, and first results were said by FETA to be “encouraging.” Before wasting too much time on financing the new bridge, Mr Hammond should ask the two men why they disagree with each other.

Bruce Whitehead

South Queensferry, Edinburgh