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The Tote

May I help my hon. Friend? The answer is to take the shops and put them into a package. Mike Smith—another experienced City person—or a group would then judge when it should be put into the marketplace. Then we could let the Tote get on with restructuring itself and attacking the international marketplace. There are two separate issues. The principal decision to be taken is whether to decouple the shops from the Tote. When I say the Tote, I mean the pool, the credit and the internet. The Tote could then be split off, and we could say, ““Mr. Smith, you will deal with that and get the possible price when you believe that to be right.”” We should get on with the Tote. The status quo is not an option, because we are haemorrhaging at the Tote. It must be given a new lease on life. That is what separates the two. When to flog them on the marketplace is a judgment for Mr. Smith when he believes that the market is right.