On January 24, The Times reported that the Democratic Unionist Party wanted “ a 25-mile bridge or tunnel” (costing some £20 billion) between Northern Ireland and Scotland—in addition to the £1 billion in extra public spending agreed last year under its deal with the government. This was not the first time that such a scheme had been proposed, as Alistair Lexden pointed out in a letter published in the newspaper on January 27.
Sir, Ulster Unionists might well have got a rail tunnel to Stranraer in 1890 if the then Tory prime minister, Lord Salisbury, had been dependent on their votes (“Now the Northern Irish want a bridge built from Scotland”, Jan.24). Plans were drawn by an enterprising engineer, but a hefty government subsidy was needed to tempt investors. Salisbury, with a majority of more than 100, said, “take away that Ulster begging bowl”.
Lord Lexden
House of Lords