European Union Referendum Bill

Alan Mak Excerpts

Tuesday 9th June 2015 Commons Chamber

[Alan Mak (Havant) (Con)]

Thank you, Madam Deputy Speaker, for allowing me to make my maiden speech in this House. I am honoured to represent the people of Havant and I thank them for placing their trust in me. I am delighted to follow the hon. Member for Dudley North (Ian Austin) and the other, excellent maiden speakers, who have set the bar high.

Like many hon. Members, I suspect I will be spending some of the coming weeks and months engaging with voters on the EU referendum, probably standing at the front of school halls and community centres. But it was my father who first inspired me into public service, because he was more used to standing at the back of all the rooms he was in. He had escaped communism and dictatorship to find freedom and opportunity here in Britain. He worked as a waiter and a bartender, standing at the back of restaurants. It was tough work, but it allowed him to save up and open a small shop up in Yorkshire with my mother. We lived above our shop, and much of my childhood was spent working in it. That journey from the back of the room to the front—from the shop floor to the Floor of this House—sums up the spirit of the opportunity society that my family and I have cherished, and which we must safeguard for future generations.

One man who shares that view is my predecessor, David Willetts, who represented Havant in this House for 23 years. David was an outstanding local MP, a distinguished Parliamentarian and a successful Minister who served his country and his constituency with distinction and honour. David was a practical and innovative thinker, and many of his ideas became Government policy. David understood that a strong economy is the driver of social mobility. Building a country where everyone has the chance to succeed, no matter what their starting point in life, will be the focus of my work in this House. As many hon. Members will know, David was affectionately nicknamed “Two Brains”. I want to manage the House’s expectations for the future, because although I have twice as much hair as David, I must confess I only have half his brains, but I hope to make up for it with my passion for Havant.

Although the modern Havant constituency is named after the ancient market town between Chichester and Portsmouth, today the seat is a microcosm of modern Britain—leafy suburbs, social housing, a rural island and a coastal town—and each part of my constituency values its own identity. Emsworth, for example, is a beautiful market town overlooking Chichester harbour that hosts an annual celebration of British produce. Emsworth also used to be famous for its oysters—until a banquet in 1902, that is, when some local councillors died from food poisoning after eating Emsworth oysters. I am sure that hon. Members would never want any councillors they know to suffer a similar fate. Further south, Hayling Island combines rural charm with a bustling visitor economy. Its beach has been awarded a blue flag for the last 24 years, and Hayling is a world-class centre for water sports and sailing. Bedhampton, Purbrook, Widley, Stakes, Warblington and Denvilles complete what is a wonderful constituency nestled between the south coast and the South Downs.

For centuries, Havant’s economy prospered on the back of parchment making, brewing and manufacturing, powered by our famous watermills and natural springs. In fact, local tradition says that Havant parchment was used for Magna Carta and the treaty of Versailles. In the modern era, Havant is now a world-class centre for high-quality engineering, science and technology. Multinationals such as Lockheed Martin, Colt, Pfizer and Kenwood all have substantial operations there, joining our many small businesses. The IBM factory that David Willets mentioned in his maiden speech has reopened as Langstone Technology Park, an outstanding example of economic regeneration and one of the crown jewels in our local economy. Whatever the British people decide in the coming referendum, which my party has enabled, we must maintain our status as an outward-looking nation, working with our partners in Europe, but also strengthening our ties with the exciting, fast-growing economies of Asia, Africa and Latin America.

I am also mindful that in today’s economy, every worker in Havant is facing competition, not just locally but globally. We must equip them with the skills to compete and win. Having benefited from an assisted place scholarship myself, I am confident that the Government’s academies and free schools programme will do just that. The transformation of Havant Academy shows exactly what can be achieved. Five years ago, it was literally a different school. Then called Staunton Community Sports College, it recorded England’s worst GSCE results, but by last summer it was England’s most improved school.

Havant Academy largely serves Leigh Park, one of Britain’s largest post-war housing estates. Some may ask me why my seat nevertheless returns such a large Conservative majority. I can tell them: Leigh Park is home to entrepreneurial tradesmen—some with white vans and England flags rightly and proudly displayed—small business owners, military veterans and hard-working families. They all want to get on in life, not just to get by. Most of them bought their council houses through right to buy, many work for local businesses and understand the importance of a strong economy, and they all care about their children's future. I am proud that they have turned to my party for a secure and prosperous future, and I am proud to represent them in the House.

My parents not only taught me how to serve people from all walks of life, but instilled in me an enduring faith in the enormous possibilities of our great nation, our great United Kingdom. For example, I am proud to be the first-ever Member of Parliament—in any party—of British-Chinese heritage. In many places, a seat in Parliament is open only to the rich and powerful, but we are all privileged to live in a country where anyone, even a family of modest shopkeepers, can stand tall and achieve their dreams. I hope that, through my work in the House, I can help everyone in Havant to achieve the same.