§ 14. Mr. SternTo ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland how many miles of motorway are to be built in the next 10 years in the Province.
§ Mr. NeedhamApproximately 2 km.
§ Mr. SternI am grateful to my hon. Friend for that reply. Does he agree that the additional communications resulting from motorway construction are frequently an aid to keeping down terrorism? Will he look at his programme in that light?
§ Mr. NeedhamWe shall look at the programme in the light of what is the best road system for Northern Ireland. We have a good system, but it is getting fairly elderly and will need to be looked at again to see whether funds can be found to uprate it.
§ Mr. BeggsYet another of my constituents has died as a result of an accident on the Larne-Belfast road. Will the Minister assure me that he recognises the importance of Larne harbour to the Northern Ireland economy, to those passengers who use that port for access to the mainland, and will he ensure that the Larne-Belfast route—[Interruption.]
§ Mr. SpeakerOrder. This is very unseemly indeed.
§ Mr. BeggsCan the Minister give us an assurance that the Larne-Belfast route will have the highest priority and motorway status? At the risk of getting a bullish answer, may I ask the Minister to tell us whether he has had any feelings of remorse for the remarks attributed to him regarding the Prime Minister, in view of her dignified resignation?
§ Mr. NeedhamThe hon. Gentleman is as aware of the importance of the Larne road as I am. If funds become available, we shall look at upgrading it. As to his second point, I am astonished that the hon. Gentleman should make use of a private call that was tapped by terrorists to make such a complaint.