Mr. Glyn Roberts:

In broad terms, in the context of the sensible things that we are putting forward, it is not about politics. Rather, it is about what is good for the economy and the retail sector, North and South. It is about practical sustainable economic development. While we have got to be careful of special circumstances, special positions or special status, what we cannot do is open up an internal border within the UK. This is obviously a difficult circle to square. We have got to ensure that there is no hard border in terms of the Border on this island but, equally, there is no hard border or barriers in terms of an internal border within the UK. That will obviously be a significant challenge.

In terms of the points made by Mr. Doherty in respect of decentralisation, we have always taken the view - we put a detailed manifesto out ahead of the council elections to the new 11 councils in Northern Ireland and covered this in our programme for government - that we need to be looking at giving those 11 councils more power. Regeneration powers need to come from Stormont to the councils. What is the point of giving the councils in Northern Ireland power over planning but not power over regeneration? We would be looking at what can they do in terms of having a greater say in how they spend their rates and how they collect them. We have suggested, for example, that they could ensure that they keep a greater proportion of the rates they raise in their town or city centres to put back into regeneration projects. When we talk about devolution, it should not only be about giving Stormont more powers, it should also relate to how we empower communities and how we empower businesses. For example, in Mr. Doherty's constituency, Strabane has taken a step forward with its own business improvement district. That, in many respects, is decentralising many of the decisions about Strabane town centre to the local traders. They lift the money and they decide how it is spent in their town centre. That is a small example of how one can decentralise, not only to the hallowed corridors of Stormont but down to local communities, towns, villages and, indeed, business.

There are practical aspects to some of the proposals we have put forward. For example, a weekend shopping break is not rocket science. Either of the hotel sectors could work out that if someone is spending a Friday and a Saturday in Dublin, he or she could hop on a train and go to a hotel and spend the day in Belfast or any other town in Northern Ireland. That is not hard to work out. From a Northern Ireland point of view, we are missing out in a significant amount of high-end retail tourists who go to Dublin but who do not come North. Obviously I do not have the statistics on this but a growing number of middle-class Chinese people regularly come to Dublin and shop in Brown Thomas. I want those retail tourists to come North, and not only to Belfast. There is a bigger marketing role. We have been clear in talking to Tourism NI that it should be integrating the fantastic retail the town and city centres in Northern Ireland have to offer such tourists. A lot of that would not require legislation or big strategies. It is a matter of practical changes in how one markets this. Also, we do not conduct enough marketing at Dublin Airport to the tourists who go there in terms of visiting Northern Ireland. Colleagues in the hospitality and tourism sector in Northern Ireland would equally agree with many of the points.

In terms of the comments about our proposals for the one-hour service, what I would say is I am not an expert in high-speed trains but one can always find 100 reasons why not to. Instead, I am the type of person who finds 100 reasons why we should do it. There are many good examples right across Europe and the world. I refer, in particular, to China, where they have perfected the idea of the high-speed train. If they can do it, I do not understand why we cannot do it here.