Chunnel
WHETHER a Channel tunnel is the best of all the possible ways of linking Britain with the Continent is a matter for debate : a bridge might be a better solution; and it is not incon- ceivable that the development of hovercraft may make any permanent link unnecessary. But it comes as a surprise to find people still arguing, as Major-General Sir Edward Spears does in a booklet, that 'strategically the Tunnel would present an intolerable danger.' True, a writer who can say 'The British people need, no tunnels' can hardly be taken seriously; but how else, except on the assumption that the military authorities (Major-General Spears is far from being alone in his views) are still convinced a tunnel would be risky, can the delay in starting on the project be accounted for? The money, apparently, is there; and if the people who provided it are willing to take the risk, why not let them? So long as the taxpayer is not called upon to subsidise the ven- ture, there can be no reason for delaying it.
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