The Government's impending decision to allow the £14 billion Severn Barrage (SB)to go forward above the £20 billion Western Water Highway(WWH) project, is an other fine example of how vested and non-independent advice to ministers totally destroys all logic and costs the nation dear.

On comparison, the WWH is far superior a proposition for the British people as it has the distinct advantage over the SB of, It will generate twice the electricity for the nation at 10% than the SB's 5%.

It will deliver electricity 24 hours a day as it is not dependent on low tide which makes the power source intermittent for the SB. Therefore the lights will constantly go out with the SB scheme but not with the WWH project.

The WWH will cut up to 50% of all transport of goods within the UK, thus eliminating a vast amount of congestion on our roads.

It will therefore in accordance with 3, reduce substantially air pollution (killing tens of thousands in the UK every year) and energy use (diesel/petrol et al) thus cutting the cost of goods to the people. Indeed, saving at least £50 billion a year alone when everything is taken in where the SB will have no effect on any financial reduction placed on Britain by road transport.

It will create between 100,00 and 150,000 new jobs in perpetuity.

Allow the whole of the England, Wales and Northern Ireland (and Scotland for that matter) to be fully opened up to equal trade through the WWH canal.

Provide the low-lying European nations the means to save their land from the erosion of the seas, thus contributing significant financial mineral to the UK through export.

The environmental impact would be far less and environmentalists should, with their thinking hat on, see this clearly.

The cost of the WWH is realistic and has been costed by independent' experts unlike the SB which we know with all government sponsored projects, ultimately cost three or even ten times the initial estimate (Scottish parliament building an example here, from £40 million to £400 million or even our Olympic costs in recent times from £3 billion to £10 billion estimated presently) Therefore Cabinet ministers Miliband, Hain and Darling should look wisely at the situation and judge projects solely on their merits and not what their advises who have vested interests tell them. Amazingly Darling stated on the 20th may 2007 that energy was not a major issue for politicians 5 years ago. Where has the man been I would ask and what hope have we got, for engineers have known since the 60s that energy would eventually be a big problem? If the SB goes forward in preference of the WWH, it will be another prime example of financial ineptitude of government, as the benefits of the latter far outweigh those derived from the SB project by a magnitude of 4. Plus of course the 150,000 new jobs, reducing road transport mileage by 50% and electricity being produced 24/7 and where the Severn Barrage definitely does not do.

Dr. David Hill, World Innovation Foundation Charity, Bern, Switzerland