Question to the Scotland Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland, what discussions he has had with Cabinet colleagues on the viability of building a bridge from Scotland to the island of Ireland.

I have regular discussions with colleagues on a range of issues.

Upgrading our transport infrastructure underpins one of the core components of our Industrial Strategy: Creating the economic infrastructure that will increase productivity and drive growth across the whole country.

Our Industrial Strategy, and the Transport Investment Strategy that builds on it, constitutes an important opportunity to consider these kinds of decisions strategically, ensuring that our approach to infrastructure not only provides the basics for the economy, but also actively supports our long term national interests.

That is why we have established the National Infrastructure Commission (NIC) to advise us on investment. The NIC are in the process of producing a National Infrastructure Assessment, which will be published this year, containing recommendations for how our identified infrastructure needs and priorities should be addressed.