Were you asked to vote in the latest opinion poll about whether Malta wants a channel tunnel? Nor was I, nor was anybody I know. So, join in this one.

Let me start with an easy question: should people who never cross the channel be entitled to vote in the tunnel-versus-ferry debate? That seems a fair point. What about the people who make the return journey only once or twice a year: should they have what may be a deciding vote?

What if they don’t care about the tunnel, either way, but are concerned about the ruination of land – perhaps stretching for five miles or more at either end – to allow for the slope, which may mean that the Gozo entrance is on the far side of Nadur, somewhere on that waterlogged plateau between the village and the racecourse?

The problem with polls like the most recent one showing a fairly indecisive split – oh dear, that looks like the Brexit referendum – is that we need to know the question that’s being asked.

Even the most ardent tunnel fan – as in: “Yes: I am in favour of a tunnel, full stop” – needs to know what this support means. For example, suppose it means a reduction in the ferry service, perhaps making it uneconomic for ferries to run at night. Suppose it means that, in the event of an accident closing the single-lane tunnel on a Sunday night, there is no ferry alternative, would you still vote for a tunnel?

It may be a no-brainer if asked whether you would prefer an all-weather tunnel to a ferry, which may not, for safety reasons, keep strictly to its timetable when (a couple of times a year) it is hampered by violent storms or thick fog. That’s what pollsters call a weighted question.

But was any of those people canvassed for the poll aware that 39 people died in a fire in the Mont Blanc tunnel in 1999, after which the tunnel was closed for three years? That’s what pollsters call hiding the facts.

Might your vote for a tunnel be dependent on the cost of using it? As a guide, the Mont Blanc tunnel (built on land) is 12 kilometres long and currently costs €59.10 return for a car and €261.80 for a heavy goods vehicle. The standard fare for a car on the Gozo ferry is €15.70.

You don’t care what the price is? You still want a tunnel?

Incidentally, the agreement to bore through Mont Blanc was signed in 1949, drilling began 10 years later and was completed in 1962 and the tunnel was opened to traffic in 1965. And that, I repeat, was a totally land-based operation.

As planned, the Gozo tunnel would provide no option to change lane in the event of a fire or, indeed, any kind of accident- Revel Barker

In 15 to 20 years, today’s students (who probably use the ferry for about six months of the year) will have forgotten about their necessity to come home to mum every night for food and laundry and the new generation will be on distance learning. Many of the office workers will have discovered that they can work from home or from a base on Gozo.

Suppose there was an option of the Malta ferry port being anywhere else on the island, other than at Ċirkewwa. This, an obviously far cheaper and quicker solution, might appeal to all those travellers frustrated by simply getting to and from that place. Would you still vote for a tunnel?

A single-lane tunnel means a single line queue. Ask any Maltese driver whether he fancies queuing – and even with a shuttle ferry service the queue sometimes stretches back from Mġarr beyond Xewkija – for an hour or more and then travelling 15 to 20 miles in the tunnel, inhaling the exhaust and staring at the boot of the car in front of him, with no opportunity to overtake.

As planned, the Gozo tunnel would provide no option to change lane in the event of a fire or, indeed, any kind of accident. The safety lane would be required for emergency services. The only way out would be to reverse, while your car filled with smoke and exhaust fumes and the extraction system was overwhelmed. Then imagine trying to signal to the drivers behind you that the way ahead is blocked and they all have to back up and out… (and where would they go, even if they could do that?)

You still favour a tunnel?

The worst that can happen on a ferry is that it crashes and sinks but we know that’s highly unlikely and the way these vessels are built they would reach land before that happened.

All this is without reference to the ecological effect of encouraging more traffic on Gozo where, in summer, there is nowhere to park and where there are no plans for increasing parking spaces.

There is no reference, either, to what would become of the material that is drilled out of the tunnel. Where would we put it?

It stands to reason that a tunnel, if ever built and opened – and used – in our lifetimes, would mean a decline in the ferry service. At the moment, especially with the addition of the fast passenger ferries, it appears to be working adequately. There is talk of augmenting the currently available fast-ferry options with a ‘stopping’ service, elsewhere than at termini in Mġarr and Valletta.

Simply moving the port from Ċirkewwa would make the crossing far more acceptable.

But was that option put to the people who voted in a simple yes-no poll about the tunnel?

Somehow, I’d doubt it.