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The British Council was founded in a library and has proselytised about the use of libraries and the development of economic activity. When we asked the people of Waterloo in Sierra Leone what they wanted, they did not say, “Clean water”—unfortunately for me, because I am an engineer, and clean water would be easy to
deliver—they said, “We would like a library.” I find it remarkable that people with truly absolutely nothing at all could ask for a library. When we asked, “Why a library and not clean water?” they said, “A generation of our children have never known school, and school is all. Education is all in allowing our country to come to the fore again.”
Getting the involvement of companies in such projects is also very difficult. Our Government could play quite a role in encouraging British companies to outreach into countries such as those in Africa. I have raised a tremendous amount of money for the library, but money will not build the library; intellectual capacity and experience will do so, and Sierra Leone is very short of that. I have approached many British companies to talk to them about where Africa fits into their corporate social responsibility programmes, and I have been told very clearly that Africa does not fit. There is no money in Africa, so it does not fit into the psyche of British companies. I find that deeply regrettable.
I am very proud of the engineers who have agreed to help us with the library project, but there are very few of them, and they are all very young people under the age of 26. It is a credit to our young people that they want to be involved with that project, but they have not got access to the money or the technology to realise such projects in Africa.
I said earlier that I want to touch briefly on developing the role of the British Council and the high commission. It strikes me that the high commission is geared to deal with companies that want to carry out inward investment. It is looking for companies to invest in countries, or it is looking for export opportunities for companies that exist in-country. However, in developing countries, inward investment will not be on the agenda for many years, and it might not be on the agenda simply because there is no stability in the country to allow companies to have the confidence that, if they make an investment, it will be secure.
In the absence of inward investment programmes because of the lack of stability of the country, I ask that we consider finding ways to support the voluntary sector and its engagement in the development of the country. If we could replicate across the UK the work in which my very small community in Waterloo has been able to engage, we would change so many of Africa’s communities. If we were to convert their time, effort, knowledge and commitment into pounds, it would be worth an inordinate amount of money, and they need the high commission to help them to gain access to the very people whom they can help. That is also true of the British Council, which is offering huge opportunities to young people to leave a country and to take on an excellent education here. That is desperately required, because technical knowledge is almost negligible in some of those countries. However, I would like to see the remit of the British Council extended so that not only are people sent to our country, but people are brought from our country to other countries that desperately need expert support, because, although we may bring one person out, if we bring a lecturer from this country to another country, the number of people who can benefit is obviously far greater.
Countries such as Sierra Leone have benefited enormously from our intervention, but they will slide again into civil war unless there is economic resurgence.
Economic resurgence cannot happen when there is no technical capacity in place. We have to address issues about developing technical capacity in third-world countries. I am quite sure that there is a body of people in this country, outwith Government, who would very much want to be part of that exercise if our Government were to facilitate that relationship.
4.30 pm
Sammy Wilson (East Antrim) (DUP): The hon. Member for Crosby (Mrs. Curtis-Thomas) highlighted in her speech one of the roles that perhaps we overlook sometimes. The Army plays a role not just in high- profile areas such as Afghanistan and Iraq, but in many other parts of the world, bringing peace and stability to those areas. Unlike the hon. Member for Thurrock (Andrew Mackinlay), I do not have a cunning plan. He seemed to have adopted the role of a parliamentary Baldrick. I listened to what he said about having been joined to Norfolk and wishing that his area had been part of London instead. I do not know whether that would be a cunning plan: he would be under the domain of Commissar Livingstone, whereas he could stay with my hon. Friend the Member for South-West Norfolk (Mr. Fraser).
I want to raise a couple of issues. As a party, we support the calls that many Members have made for a debate during this Session or the next Session about the situation in Iraq. At a time when there are complaints about the lack of equipment and when it appears that the Government are looking for new supporters in Iraq—including two of the countries that appearto have been supporting the insurgency—and are prepared to give evidence to the Baker committee in America, but not to bring those issues before the House, thus diminishing the role of Parliament, it is important that there be a debate. That does not mean that we are undermining those who have gone out to do a difficult job. If anything, it would show the people who are doing a difficult job that those of us who represent the constituencies in which they live across the United Kingdom are concerned about the conduct of the war, the equipment that is available and the direction in which the Government are going.
People in Northern Ireland feel that parliamentary vacuum even more, because much of our business is carried out in this House in a way that does not offer a proper opportunity to scrutinise Government. So sloppy have the Government now become in Northern Ireland affairs that over the past month the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland has been in court three times—or he will have been by the end of this week. In fact, somebody back home remarked that the Secretary of State is in court more often than Tim Henman. He has been in court over lack of consultation, the way in which the Government have handled legislation and the way in which major decisions have been made. Whether in relation to the sexual orientation legislation, water charges or public appointments, we find that some of the Secretary of State’s decisions—and the way in which business is being handled—are, increasingly, subject to judicial review.
Although we are working towards devolving to Northern Ireland many of the issues that are currently dealt with
here, nevertheless there is a requirement that, if devolution does not come about, Northern Ireland business be dealt with in a much more democratic and accountable way in this House. However, that will not stop people in Northern Ireland working to try to resolve their difficulties and to get devolution. Given the attitude of Sinn Fein towards the policing issue, many of us despair of the deadlines and the requirements set by this House for devolution in Northern Ireland being met by 26 March. If they are not met, I do not believe that we can go on with the form of direct rule that we have had for so long. There must be ways of dealing with Northern Ireland business in a much more accountable way in this House.
I want to raise two or three issues, but I shall try to keep my contribution to 10 minutes because I know that many other hon. Members want to speak—[Hon. Members: “Hear, hear.”] I knew that that would get applause, because it was a populist thing to say.
The first issue concerns teacher training in Northern Ireland. Over the past few years, the number of people leaving teacher training colleges and finding a job has diminished rapidly from 82 per cent. in 2001 to 22 per cent. this year, if the teaching unions’ figures are to be believed. The most recent Government figure we have relates to the year before—it was 62 per cent.
We are talking about people who have invested in their own education, paid their fees and put themselves through teacher training college. They have acquired the necessary skills, yet they find themselves coming out at the end without any prospect of employment. If they do not find employment in the first year, many of them find themselves barred from jobs in subsequent years, because they do not have the necessary experience.
That is taking place against the background of an increasing number of people taking early retirement in the teaching profession and then walking back into supply teaching or part-time teaching jobs, perhaps the very next term. Such jobs may not be on a full-time or permanent basis, but they could have been made available to trainee teachers to give them the opportunity, at least, to gain some experience.
The Department of Education in Northern Ireland knows about the situation, which has taken place against a background of fewer teachers being required because of falling rolls. The teacher training intake has been kept the same, but schools have been given no firm direction to give opportunities to young trainee teachers, rather than bringing back those who have taken early retirement. The relevant Minister needs to address the issue urgently, otherwise many people will become cynical about the opportunities available and the outcome for those who obtain a teacher training degree.
The second issue that I want to raise concerns health. Ministers here tell me almost every week that waiting lists have been falling in England and on the mainland, but in Northern Ireland they have remained stubbornly high. The length of time taken to get care in hospitals has not fallen there, despite huge sums being poured into the health service. While those who get through the process of seeing a consultant can quickly get into hospital, a back-loading has taken place, whereby, in order to ration places, operations and so on, the period taken to get to a consultant to find out what work is required has been lengthened. Rather than taking account of all the experience that a patient
goes through, things appear to have been divided into little chunks, so that targets can be met in one place by delaying things in another. That problem must be addressed.
The other big recent health issue in my constituency has been the decision to close Inver House, all that remains of a local hospital in Larne. The situation affects two wards where people could go for palliative care and where people who were recovering from operations could be looked after locally. All of that has been centralised, and the argument is that the care will take place in the community. However, no evidence has been provided that resources will be placed there.
There are many other issues that I could raise, but I promised that I would keep to 10 minutes. I will keep that promise because the DUP always keeps its promises. I will not, therefore, deal with those issues, other than to say—
Sammy Wilson: I got my hair cut. I will cut my speech as short as my hair, and I now conclude.
4.40 pm
Mr. David Amess (Southend, West) (Con): Before the House adjourns for the Christmas recess there are a number of points that I want to raise that relate to the subjects of democracy and justice. We live in extraordinary political times. Earlier this week we saw the Prime Minister visiting our troops in Iraq. The troops were taking photographs of the Prime Minister on his mobile phone. I very much hope, and I know that I speak for all colleagues, that we do not lose any of those troops in the war.
I will regret until the day I die that I voted for the war with Iraq. I believed everything that the Prime Minister told the House. That was a grave misjudgment. I would hope that most hon. Members who voted for the war with Iraq now accept that. It seems to me that there is one person, and one alone, who does not accept that the war was a terrible mistake, and that is the Prime Minister. And still the British people do not stir.
The Prime Minister is now in the middle east, accompanied by one of his colleagues, a noble Lord. Both those gentlemen have been interviewed by the police regarding the difficulties over cash for honours. I understand that it is the first time that a Prime Minister has been interviewed by the police. And still the British people do not stir.
It seems to me that the Conservative Governments of 18 years are judged by entirely different standards from those by which the Labour Governments have been judged for the past 10 years. The reality is that we no longer live in a democracy. When you and I first came to this place, Mr. Deputy Speaker, it was the mother of all Parliaments. In the time that you and I have been Members of this place we have seen our powers gradually and steadily seep away. This is a pale shadow of the place to which I was originally elected in 1983.
In those days, we Members of Parliament could get things done; we could make a difference. For instance, I stopped an accident and emergency unit being closed, prevented a maternity unit from moving to another hospital and stopped two schools being closed. I even
have two Acts of Parliament in my name, and that was as a result of getting my colleagues to shut up. I managed to persuade a Minister to repurchase 3,500 homes that had originally been purchased through the sale of council houses. It cannot be that my power has been blunted just because I sit on the Opposition Benches. But, I say again, still the British people do not stir.
The country today is governed by quangos. It was the leader of the Labour party who said in 1997 that quangos would be consigned to “history’s dustbin”. Well these quangos have been recycled. They are now rebranded as non-departmental public bodies. An NDPB is
“a body which has a role in the processes of national government, but is not a government department or part of one, and which accordingly operates to a greater or lesser extent at arm’s length from Ministers.”
Well, since 1997, more than 300 of these quangos have been set up. Basically, what they do is take away responsibility from Ministers. Quangos used to cost £79 billion, but they now cost in excess of £124 billion—and still the British people do not stir.
For two years, I have been trying to get a Minister to intervene in a local issue to do with badgers. A Minister eventually agreed to see me, but he was moved from his post. His replacement fell ill, and since that time, things have changed, and he no longer has any power over the issue. The power now lies with a new Government agency called Natural England—and still the British people do not stir.
I should like to point out an injustice. I had the privilege to sponsor a function for children with arthritis. More than 10,000 children suffer from arthritis in this country, and that is a greater number than those with diabetes or cystic fibrosis. A young lady called Lauren Vaknine addressed the gathering. She was diagnosed with juvenile rheumatoid arthritis at the age of two, and it affected her knees and ankles. It gave her uveitis in her right eye as a result of the inflammation in her body, which was controlled through herbal treatments and eye-drops until she was 16. Most Members of Parliament are surprised that there are so many children with arthritis. A postcode lottery operates in this country, so although the children desperately need drugs to help them, they do not get them. And still the British people do not stir.
My constituent Nicholas French, who is 34, was badly injured in a motor accident in 1999. He suffered a brain haemorrhage and has nerve problems. His left foot is paralysed and he is epileptic. He applied to the Department for Work and Pensions for disability living allowance, and his mother filled in the application, as he cannot hold a pen. A delightful neighbour videoed him, and he is currently the subject of an investigation. He works at a call centre at Southend hospital. Most colleagues would salute that gentleman, who has met so much adversity, yet it is seriously considered that he is claiming the benefit illegally. And still the British people do not stir.
A sheltered home in my constituency, Burleigh Court, which has 49 residents, has been told by the local authority in Southend that it no longer meets Government requirements, as rooms are two inches too small and corridors are too narrow—all colleagues have heard it before. Southend-on-Sea borough council
has no money, because as soon as the Deputy Prime Minister assumed his job in 1997, it was payback time for the “prosperous” south, and the north of the country was to get more money. We have no money at all in Southend; the local authority has to go along with what the Government tell it to do, and it has very few powers. Can you imagine the situation that the residents face, Mr. Deputy Speaker? They include a woman of 103, people who are in their 90s, and people who are disabled, but they have to vacate Burleigh Court within 18 months, or wait until someone dies in another home. There is no space on which to build in Southend—and still the British people do not stir.
In Southend, there is a revenue and tax headquarters building, and it has just been announced, as a pre-Christmas present for local residents, that 340 workers in that Inland Revenue building will be made redundant. Obviously, those people are concerned about the sort of Christmas that they face. They have been told that the Treasury is downsizing the operation in Southend. The redundancies will leave the Inland Revenue in Southend with fewer staff to complete the same large work load. The service will obviously suffer as a consequence—and still the British people do not stir.
Last week the PMOI had a hearing at which the European Court of Justice—
Mr. Deputy Speaker: Order. I am loth to interrupt the hon. Gentleman, but it would be helpful, not least to me and no doubt to others, if he would not use initials the first time. Perhaps we could all know what the initials mean, and he could use them thereafter, if he wishes.
Mr. Amess: I refer to an Iranian movement which is concerned about the President of Iran and everything that goes on in that country. It seeks justice for the people in Iran. There was a hearing at the European Court of Justice on 12 December, which annulled the court’s decision to include the organisation in its terror list and the decision to freeze the group’s European assets, but still the British Government include the organisation on the proscribed list. And still the British people do not stir.
My final point is about a chap called Raf Islam. The hon. Member for Ilford, South (Mike Gapes) and I have been trying to get that gentleman freed from Chelmsford prison. He and his brother were brought from Bangladesh in 1993 aged 10 and 11. Their mother had already died. The father died and they were left with their stepmother. They came home from school one day and found that the stepmother had disappeared, taking with her their passports and visas. The older brother looked after his younger brother, who has never been in trouble with the police, but unfortunately the older brother has. He has served his time and should have been released on Friday 10 November, but his Christmas present is to find that he faces deportation.
It is a scandal that this chap, who has been in care looking after his brother, is facing deportation. I say to the Minister, who may get a note from one of his officials when he winds up the debate, that the huge number of people to whom I and the hon. Member for
Ilford, South have spoken are very nice and are all sympathetic, but the fact remains that Raf Islam is still in Chelmsford prison. My wife will visit him there on Christmas eve. What a wonderful Christmas present it would be if that visit was not necessary.
I am delighted that West Ham United beat Manchester United on Sunday, following in the footsteps of Southend. I hope Southend thrash Spurs on Wednesday. I wish you, Mr. Deputy Speaker, and everyone else a very happy Christmas, peace, prosperity, good health and a wonderful new year.
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