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Coastal Towns

My hon. Friend is right. Although some might not agree, Bournemouth is in some ways fortunate for having supposedly become the clubbing centre of southern England, after London. All sorts of young people appear for the day, for the night or for a little longer, some of whom are scantily dressed. They enjoy themselves in the town until the wee small hours of the morning, and sometimes beyond. That imposes a huge burden, despite bringing a lot of business and spending power to the town. I would not say that we should do without it, although some of my more elderly residents might think that it would be well dispensed with. The criteria that the Government use to consider how support should be given to seaside towns are not fair. The day visitor allowance has been abolished under the present Government—an extraordinary decision. Although Bournemouth might be able to sustain that loss to a degree, it might be a death knell for many other seaside towns. It does not help us in creating an environment in which we can attract not only UK visitors but overseas visitors. We attract such visitors in increasing numbers, thus benefiting our balance of payments greatly. Interestingly, the language schools contribute substantially to the number of our overseas visitors. I am not just talking about the young people who come, because some people meet their future husband or wife in such places and subsequently come back on honeymoon and then bring their children back on family holidays. That is a noticeable phenomenon, and we undervalue it at our peril, leaving aside the enormous economic benefit that we gain from the language schools, and the employment and prosperity that they bring to the town. I welcome this excellent report. I should apologise because I was meeting the President of Namibia when this debate began and I therefore missed the opening part of the speech by the hon. Member for Milton Keynes, South-West (Dr. Starkey).