David Amess

Conservative Party | Southend West

Christmas Adjournment

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 from being closed, prevented a maternity unit from moving to another hospital and stopped two schools from 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 re-branded 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.