Budget Resolutions and Economic Situation — House of Commons, 2015-07-13
Topic: Defense
Felicia Jane Beatrix Drummond (Conservative, Centre-right): May I say what a pleasure it is to speak in this debate on one of the most reforming Budgets we have had for a long time? It balances entitlements against responsibilities, and extends our economic plan even further into the years ahead—years of growth and stability In Portsmouth, we naturally all welcome the renewal of this Government’s commitment to spending 2% of GDP on defence. We face evolving threats as a nation, and I hope that when the strategic defence and security review has drawn its conclusions we will enhance our capability in important areas such as maritime patrol aircraft and the full Type 26 order, which we hope will amount to 13 ships I want to focus on the long-term impact of this Budget on my constituency. I am sure Members will agree that the infrastructure upgrades are vital for businesses and for boosting productivity. In Portsmouth and along the south coast, we have an opportunity for a "southern powerhouse", but we have some infrastructure needs if we are to unlock the potential. A number of my hon. Friends, including the Exchequer Secretary, share my belief that we need to upgrade our rail connections on the line between Waterloo and the south coast. In many cases, the journey takes as long as it did in Victorian days. It takes one hour and 40 minutes to travel 70 miles, which is not acceptable in our modern days. I shall campaign on this issue and hope to speak to the Chancellor about building a faster railway down to Portsmouth. It is a challenging route with issues of capacity, but if we are to have investment in areas that already have a good level of service in the north, it is only fair that the real bottlenecks elsewhere are addressed, too. A high-speed train to Portsmouth via Eastleigh would benefit much of the south coast—from Weymouth to Chichester, and it would include the Isle of Wight, too. Portsmouth has been left behind, so we need support and further investment in our education and skills, and, most of all, we need some more aspiration I welcome the Budget’s emphasis on partnership working between central Government, local enterprise partnerships and councils. In Hampshire, we have Solent LEP and the promise of working with combined local authorities—probably for the whole of Hampshire—and I want to help drive this progress forward. We have benefited from investment in Portsmouth under this Chancellor. "Bridging the Gap" has helped small and medium-sized enterprises with £3.6 million, creating 600 jobs. It has helped a particular coffee shop in Southsea, which proved to be popular. Another £1.8 million from the Growing Places fund has helped infrastructure projects, including a centre of excellence in engineering and manufacturing advanced skills training. Maritime engineering is one of the centres of excellence in Portsmouth that I am hoping to push forward We also have massive investment in our dockyard to support the Navy, but there are still areas where we can and must improve over the coming years. I look forward to campaigning on these issues, making sure that Portsmouth and the south coast is well catered for in much of its infrastructure. I look forward to talking to the Chancellor over the next few years about all the issues that I want to put forward.