John Hayes, the Conservative Minister for Transport has been the focus of ridicule today after claiming in the House of Commons that the Forth and Tay bridges closed as a result of the removal of tolls by the Scottish Government. Not only is this demonstrably untrue, the new Queensferry Crossing is also nearing completion.
Cue incredulous tweets from local MPs and members of the public:
UK govt transport minister has just told house of commons @theSNP Scot Govt closed Tay and Forth Bridges after abolishing tolls.
— Peter Grant MP (@PeterGrantMP) February 23, 2017
The Daily Fife Commute has become really tough since the SNP shut the Forth and Tay road bridges. pic.twitter.com/UAfv04KCrQ
— Jane Somers (@somers_jane) February 23, 2017
Me training commuters on our new bridge crossing procedure, seeing as the UK transport minister thinks the Forth & Tay bridges are closed pic.twitter.com/I2UwDDSTaE
— Oor Blaze fae Skye (@Blazespage) February 23, 2017
Fife commuters this morning crossing the Forth and Tay.#ToryWestminsterWingnut pic.twitter.com/4EIpjG0zoz
— Lord of the Bings (@joe90kane) February 23, 2017
This compounds a previous error by the Foreign and Commonwealth Office which sparked similar mirth among Scottish Twitter users.
Opening in 2017, the 2.7 km Queensferry Crossing will be the longest 3 tower cable-stayed bridge in the world #DesignisGREAT #GlobalBritain pic.twitter.com/3pTCUl1WnN
— Foreign Office (@foreignoffice) November 29, 2016
It seems the UK Government is a little confused about bridges in Scotland generally.