Sky-high finance

At a time when the world's bankers are tightening their belts, Alex Salmond's announcement that John Swinney will soon announce the method of funding for a new £4.2 billion Forth bridge (your report, 9 October) seems bullish, to say the least.

Could it be that the SNP's new financial guru, Sir Angus Grossart, has found a financier flush with funds in these uncertain times? When Noble Grossart, the merchant bank, advised the Scottish Office on the Skye Bridge project, it recommended the Bank of America as the firm to finance the project.

Subsequent reports into the Skye bridge affair by the public accounts committee and the National Audit Office were highly critical of the level of profit made by contractors with little financial risk. The rewards for Bank of America as toll concessionaire were so great that the government was forced to buy back the tolling contract from it.

With the world suffering from the effects of bankers' unwillingness to lend a penny, it is reassuring to know that we are bucking the trend in finding one willing to find finance for a bridge that looks like being the most expensive in the world – and we might not even need it. But will we be getting a good deal, or a Skye-high price?

TOM MINOGUE
Victoria Terrace
Dunfermline, Fife