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Industry and the Environment

I am delighted to follow the hon. Member for Amber Valley (Judy Mallaber), who gave us a clear exposition of some of the manufacturing and other issues connected with her constituency."““In rising to speak in this House for the first time, I ask for the indulgence which is normally accorded to maiden speakers and my feeling of trepidation in speaking here on the first occasion is somewhat allayed by the experience of very great kindness which I have received from Members of all parties and indeed from everyone . . . in this House.””—[Official Report, 19 April 1950; Vol. 474, c. 167.]" Those are my sentiments, but the words were spoken by my most illustrious predecessor more than 50 years ago. It is a tribute to a Member of Parliament that after 50 years he is so fondly remembered in his constituency. Mr., later Sir, Cyril Black is still remembered in Wimbledon as one of our most favoured sons. He was devoted to the community and was the epitome of what a good constituency MP should be. Even during the recent election campaign, several older constituents reminded me of Sir Cyril’s good works and efforts on their behalf, and entreated me, were I fortunate enough to be elected to this place, to ensure that I was a Member of Parliament like him. He was a tireless campaigner for, and a promoter of, Wimbledon. He was truly Wimbledon’s voice in this place, and in both those endeavours I intend to try to emulate him. It is a testament to his work that his name lives on in buildings and roads throughout Wimbledon. Various large office blocks are named after him. One of his memorials from grateful constituents is the Sir Cyril Black Way, which I trod during the recent campaign—[Interruption.] No, it was certainly not the third way. Hon. Members will understand that I hope that I can do as much for my constituents now as Sir Cyril did for them 50 years ago, and I rather hope that my memorial will not be the Stephen Hammond cul-de-sac. However, his maiden speech was notable for one thing: he did not address any of his opening remarks to his predecessors or, indeed, the constituency. That is a trend that I do not intend to follow. After Sir Cyril Black, Sir Michael Havers served in this House with great distinction as Attorney-General during the Falklands campaign and was a distinguished Member of the other place. Dr. Charles Goodison-Wickes is principally remembered in Wimbledon for the fact that he was the Member of Parliament who went to the Gulf war. Most recently, Roger Casale, although he and I disagreed on most things political, was, I believe, well intentioned and sought to do his best for the people of Wimbledon. To some, Wimbledon is strawberries and Pimms, tennis and hot summer days; to others, it is the Wombles. To those of us who live there, it is not just the leafy suburb of SW19 that one sees on the television for two weeks a year; it is the best place to live. It is a very diverse area, each part of it unique and each part of it special. We have the part that most people see—the unique city village, which is Wimbledon village. We have a vibrant town centre where business, visitors and residents alike work together. Wimbledon common is protected not by the Wombles but by the excellent work of the Conservatives, and the common land Bill that we may see through during this Parliament will be welcome. We have a very lively small business community and a cultural life enriched by the phoenix of the New Wimbledon theatre rising from the ashes two years ago, supported by a very active civic trust that works with schools to promote the arts. We have another common in Wimbledon that most people do not know about—Cannon Hill common, which joins two of our residential areas, West Barnes and Cannon Hill. I myself am fortunate to live in the splendidly named Wimbledon Park ward, which has the magnificent Inigo Jones-designed park. I believe that Wimbledon is simply the best place to live, but it is not without its concerns and problems. Local transport has suffered as a result of the inconsistent policies of the Mayor and of the Government: the illogical decision to stop the East London line at Clapham Junction, the delayed Thameslink, and the poor service that we receive on the District line, which is the subject of a campaign by me and my hon. Friends the Members for Putney (Justine Greening) and for Hammersmith and Fulham (Mr. Hands) that we will further pursue through this Parliament. Unlike the hon. Member for Burnley (Kitty Ussher), I am not sure that I recognise, after eight years, all the positives on education. Several of our primary and secondary schools have had to face deficit budgets this year. Standards do not match those of surrounding boroughs. There is a real need for a diversity of provision and for an increase in vocational training, and a particular need for a school-based sixth form. Conservation is one of the key issues. We need to protect our metropolitan open land from the onslaught of overdevelopment. The high quality of life in Wimbledon stems from the fact that we have protected our green spaces, parks and playing fields. We must continue to do that, and I pledge to do all that I can in this House to ensure that that happens. Today has been set aside for us to talk about environment and industry, so I want to touch on two issues—one is mentioned in the Queen’s Speech and one is not—that are relevant to the constituency and to the topics of the day. Like many other constituencies across the country, Wimbledon has experienced a huge increase in the number of applicants for phone masts over the past few years. I recognise the need to balance the ever-increasing demands of users against local residents’ concerns, rational health concerns against the ““phone fried my brain”” health scares, and over-expansion against nimbyism. However, the simple fact is that the siting of phone masts near homes, schools and hospitals, the health effects, and particularly concentrations of masts should be matters for proper consideration. The old telephone exchange on the Ridgway in my constituency already has 10 different masts and equipment boxes on its roof. There are three outstanding applications, each of which is for six more multiple masts. There is a high incidence of cancer in local areas. Local residents and I have campaigned to oppose that concentration and the visual intrusion, but to no avail. Local residents feel powerless and the local authority hides behind Government legislation that does not allow it to adjudicate many applications, so it waves through planning applications on the basis of prior approval without allowing the discussion of opposition on the grounds of health. We need to have a debate on the health concerns, including the impact of proximity and concentration and the most recent studies of Professor Henshall. We need to ensure that all phone mast developments are subject to full planning permission. Councils should be allowed to take on board health concerns and visual amenity. I trust that this House will have time to debate that at some stage during this Parliament. I note that her Majesty’s speech said that legislation will be introduced to streamline regulatory structures and to remove outdated and unnecessary legislation. Let us hope that we have a bonfire of the targets. However, the Queen’s Speech, which is heaving with new Bills, does not do well in that regard. There can be few Members who, when campaigning, did not meet small business people who told us about the problems that they were facing with over-regulation. In Wimbledon, I was particularly struck by the number of such people in the construction industry. One gentleman, an electrician, showed me all the forms and ID that needed to be supplied for him to get on to a site, and told me that he is unable to compete with electricians from some of the newly acceded EU countries. He was but one of many. While one could say that that is only anecdotal evidence, one should not forget that the director-general of the British Chambers of Commerce recently said that it is fed up with the spiralling costs of regulation and estimates that overall regulation has cost £40 billion since 1997. If the Government are truly about to set about reducing the cost of regulation, we will support them. However, if we see a set of targets to reduce targets and regulation, and more administrators and regulators to reduce regulation, I am sure that there will be ironic smiles and laughter from Conservative Members and we will know that yet again the legislation will not work. For any legislation to be effective it must transform regulatory impact assessments, repeal some of the specific business regulation and grant some exemptions to small businesses. I am grateful to you, Madam Deputy Speaker, for allowing me to make my maiden speech today and to the House for listening to me with courtesy and forbearance. I intend to be a loyal and conscientious Member of the House and to live up to my election pledge to be my constituency’s voice in this place and to serve my constituents loyally.