Inward Investment: Southend — House of Commons, 2015-06-08
Topic: Government Operations
David Anthony Andrew Amess (Conservative, Centre-right): Although it is a little disappointing that there is not a packed House to listen to what I have to say about Southend, from looking around the Chamber I can see that we have the quality. I congratulate my right hon. Friend the Minister for Communities and Resilience on being re-elected as the MP for Rayleigh and Wickford with a huge majority, and my hon. Friend the Member for Rochford and Southend East (James Duddridge) on similarly being re-elected with a large majority I could not be more pleased that my right hon. Friend will reply to this debate. He is only too well aware that there are not too Members left who can recall a Conservative majority Government. He and I worked together in the constituency of Basildon. During that time, we managed to change the public perception of Basildon, and it became the magnificent town it is today. We managed to turn round some negative things: with two days to go, we stopped the closure of the accident and emergency unit; we stopped the destruction of a silver birch forest; we saved three secondary schools from closure; and we got 10,000 council houses, which had been sold, repurchased because of clay heave I mean this in the nicest sense possible, but I say to my right hon. Friend that now there is a Conservative Government—and we are blessed with a Speaker who believes that every Member of Parliament elected to this place is equal, and that all our voices will be heard—I am absolutely determined that this Conservative Government, whom I support, will act not only on behalf of my constituents in Southend to make it an even better place than it is, but on behalf of the country. In future, I do not expect Ministers just to pay lip service to what I am asking them to do; I expect action, and tonight is the start of the action. At the end of this short debate, I hope that my right hon. Friend will see to it that Southend is granted city status In the position he now occupies, my right hon. Friend is following my right hon. Friend the Member for Tunbridge Wells (Greg Clark), now the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, and my right hon. Friend the Member for Forest of Dean (Mr Harper), now the Chief Whip, who both responded to such debates when we were in the coalition Government. Now we are a Conservative Government, I fully expect city status to be granted to Southend. In every respect, Southend qualifies to be a city. It certainly has its own distinct identity Southend’s local authority has no overall control. There are 22 Conservatives, constituting far and away the largest party, and the Labour, Liberal, Independent and UKIP councillors have joined together to prevent the Conservatives from controlling the authority. Quite how that works from a philosophical point of view I do not know, but there is no doubt that the Conservative council did a magnificent job in restoring the fortunes of Southend. We enjoy excellent communication and transport links, and the A127 and A13 have been upgraded. The most recent development, of which my right hon. Friend is well aware, is the extension of the Tesco junction along the A127, which has had to deal with congestion caused by employees at the RBS site and the Tesco Extra store—and, now, with the presence of London Southend airport. The extension has greatly relieved the congestion in the area I am not sure that constituents understand the constraints that affect Ministers. Ministers cannot ask questions or initiate debates, but I have discussed a number of points with my hon. Friend the Member for Rochford and Southend East (James Duddridge)—who is also the Under-Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs—and our views on the local railway lines are very similar. For instance, c2c is absolutely magnificent. When I was the Member of Parliament for Basildon, it was known as the misery line. It is now known as the happy line, and I congratulate it on that However, my hon. Friend and I have some concerns about the Greater Anglia railway line. I recently made a public journey on the line with the chief executive. I was very frank with him: I said I thought it was a rotten service. The prices were too high, and the rolling stock was clapped out. I asked what he was going to do about it. The Secretary of State for Transport has now opened up a bidding process, and I understand that three companies are involved. I hope that, as local Members of Parliament all of whom enjoy, or suffer, this particular rail service—there is just one station in my area, namely Prittlewell—we shall be consulted as the bidding process continues If I hear another colleague say that London Southend airport is fantastic, I shall respond by saying that there is a very good side to it, but also a slightly challenging side, because the aircraft take off and land in my constituency, and not all the residents who were there before the airport expanded are entirely delighted about the increased noise. Nevertheless, I entirely accept that last year it dealt with more than a million passengers. I do not know whether my right hon. Friend the Member for New Forest East (Dr Lewis) has flown from the airport.