Health and Social Care

Lucy Allan Excerpts

Tuesday 2nd June 2015 Commons Chamber

[Lucy Allan (Telford) (Con)]

It is a privilege to follow the hon. Member for York Central (Rachael Maskell) and I welcome many of her comments about mental health. I congratulate all my colleagues who have made their maiden speech over the past few days. There have been many awe-inspiring and somewhat intimidating speeches to have to follow.

I am honoured that the people of Telford have sent me to this place to speak for them. I have been touched by the warmth and kindness they have shown me over the past few years as I have got to know Telford and Telford has got to know me. Telford has welcomed me as it has welcomed so many newcomers over recent years, and I look forward to repaying that trust by representing it to the very best of my ability.

I pay tribute to my predecessor, David Wright. He was well respected and well liked and I know that he was proud to serve Telford. He served with dedication and diligence for 14 years and I wish him well for the future.

Telford is an extraordinary and vibrant new town. It has grown and continues to grow in the heart of Shropshire. As the first Conservative MP for Telford, I join four other Shropshire Conservative Members of this House and Shropshire now becomes a wholly Conservative county. There were fears during the election campaign about the SNP—the Shropshire national party—but I can assure the House that that fear is entirely misplaced, because Telford most definitely has an independent spirit and a unique identity all of its own.

Telford was originally made up of the traditional industrial settlements of the east Shropshire coalfields of Madeley, Ketley, Oakengates and, of course, Dawley. In the 1960s and ’70s it was joined by new town areas such as Sutton Hill, Malinslee, Brookside and Woodside and today growth continues apace. It is expected that by 2025 its population will have increased by a further 23%.

Telford has a proven ability to innovate, evolve and adapt to change, whether through the revolutionary ironmasters such as Abraham Darby, who made Telford famous as the birthplace of British industry, through men such as Thomas Telford, a civil engineer and architect of the local canals, railways, bridges and churches, or through the new economy, high-tech revolution and new business start-ups we see today. All around us is innovation and change.

Some 140 years ago, in August 1875, a Dawley man, Captain Matthew Webb, became the first man to swim the British channel. He achieved what everybody thought was impossible. His first attempt did indeed fail. When he tried again, the jellyfish, the cold, the currents and the tides simply could not defeat him. He finally overcame the odds and he made it. His amazing story has been told in a new film called “The Greatest Englishman” and the premier is to be held in Telford later this year. At the bottom of Dawley High Street is a monument to Captain Webb. On it are the words, “Nothing great is easy.” When Conservative Members talk about aspiration, it is the spirit captured by the story of Captain Webb that we talk about—that Telford spirit, thinking big, overcoming obstacles, never giving up, and the struggle to achieve the best that we can, whatever the odds.

Telford has never had it easy. In the ’60s the blast furnaces were blown out. In the ’70s the last collieries closed. It was hit by the recessions of the ’80s and ’90s, with record unemployment, and again by the great recession of 2008-09. The solution has always been to think big, work hard and keep going. While Opposition Members may weary of the phrase “the long-term economic plan is working”, the truth is, and the facts are, it is. And anyone who wants evidence need look no further than Telford.

People come to Telford to seek a better life, but realising that dream has never been easy. There was the battle to get a link road connecting the M6 to Telford. From when the Planning Minister told this House it would be started in 1972, it took a further 15 years to complete. Getting Telford connected remains a major priority for its success. Virgin Trains set up a direct train service to London last year, which is welcome, but more frequent services to Birmingham are required and internet connectivity remains a huge issue for our constituency.

While hon. Members will talk with enthusiasm about building new homes, in Telford we see at first hand the practical difficulties that come with the rapid rate of growth, which should not be ignored—school places, parking, access to GPs, better communications, and the desire to protect Telford’s green spaces.

For our young people to take full advantage of all that Telford has to offer, they need skills and training. Fantastic work has been done by many organisations to ensure that that happens, but to truly thrive, young people must, as my hon. Friend the Member for North West Hampshire (Kit Malthouse) mentioned, have strong and supportive families. For that reason, I welcome the expansion of the troubled families initiative announced in the Gracious Speech. It has been so successful in supporting families with the most complex needs, and I particularly welcome this new family-centric approach.

Nationally, since 2008 we have seen a rapid increase in the number of children entering the care system. I want to see that decrease because that is no solution for children and it is no way to spend a childhood.

In conclusion, I want to say that this Gracious Speech has been about helping working people get on, supporting aspiration and giving opportunities to the most disadvantaged. The Gracious Speech is truly a speech designed for Telford.