The End of the Channel Tunnel Last week the Prime
Minister announced that the Government had decided against the construction of the Channel Tunnel. The reasons were fully set out in a White Paper issued subsequently. The decision was a foregone conclusion after the Report of the Channel Tunnel Committee. No Government could have acted upon such a chilling Report. The Committee without actually ruling out the Tunnel on economic grounds, made it clear that it was not likely to be profitable, and would not appreciably reduce unemployment. The White Paper emphasizes the absence of any enthusiastic support in industrial quarters. It commits an error of psychology in recapitulating the hoary strategical arguments which were long ago made fashionable by the Committee of Imperial Defence. As the Manchester Guardian remarks, " What century do our military advisors live in ? " Aerial warfare has quite disposed of the argument that a Channel Tunnel would destroy the character of this " precious jewel set in a silver sea."
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