Armed Forces Commissioner Bill

Alison Hume Excerpts

2nd reading
Monday 18th November 2024 Commons Chamber

[Alison Hume (Scarborough and Whitby) (Lab)]

Thank you, Madam Deputy Speaker. It is an honour to be called to make my maiden speech during this important debate.

I would like to pay tribute to the armed forces personnel and veterans who live in the Scarborough and Whitby constituency. Each year, Scarborough honours their sacrifice and service on Armed Forces Day. The splendid parade marches past Scarborough lifeboat station, where this year the Royal National Lifeboat Institution celebrated 200 years of service.

Back in 1861, a massive storm destroyed nearly 200 ships off the east coast. At Whitby lifeboat station, Henry Freeman was the only volunteer to survive the disaster, thanks to the new design of lifejacket he was wearing, made from strips of cork sewn into a canvas vest.

Incredible designs are in the weft and weave of Whitby. Twice a year, Whitby Goth Weekend welcomes thousands of well-dressed goths who paint the town red—and purple and black. Goths regularly inquire whether Dracula is buried in Whitby abbey or the churchyard. He is not. In fact, Dracula was the relatively recent creation of Bram Stoker, a Victorian theatre manager and author who found inspiration for his blood-sucking vampire when he stayed in Whitby, travelling there on the newly developed railway. Our railways are still associated with horror stories, but today it is more about nightmare journeys.

I pay tribute to my predecessors, Sir Robert Goodwill and Lawrie Quinn, for their work to improve local connectivity. Sir Robert served our constituency for 19 years. He dedicated himself to giving a stronger voice to people who struggled to be heard, and he helped to improve the lives of many residents, particularly in land management, local healthcare and road safety. On behalf of the community, I place on record my sincere thanks for his long years of faithful service, and I wish him and his wife, Maureen, a happy retirement.

Sir Robert’s Labour predecessor, Lawrie Quinn, is fondly remembered by constituents, particularly for helping to secure the award-winning Coastliner bus with its magnificent views. After today’s announcement, we can look forward to more buses, and better buses, in Scarborough and Whitby.

Opposite Scarborough station stands the Stephen Joseph theatre, the theatrical home of one of our finest living playwrights, Sir Alan Ayckbourn, the jewel in our creative crown.

Our stunning constituency covers 285 square miles. The beauty of our sweeping coastline and purple-topped moors has been captured in many television dramas and films. Goathland sits in the heart of the glorious North York Moors national park, with a station on the pretty Esk Valley railway. It has doubled both as Aidensfield station in “Heartbeat” and as Hogsmeade station, from where Harry Potter catches a steam train to his school for wizards.

While we are on wizardry, I would like to thank the House of Commons staff for making us freshers feel so welcome, and especially for not laughing as I circled endlessly through the various corridors, absolutely convinced that, just as with Hogwarts, nothing ever seems to be in the same place as it was the time before.

Talented young people in coastal towns surely deserve the same opportunities in the creative industries as their peers in the cities. I will work hard to bring these opportunities to Scarborough and Whitby, and to attract investment for training and skills in the industries of the future.

At its headquarters in Scarborough, Alexander Dennis—formerly Plaxton—is leading the way with its innovative electric buses. We are also uniquely positioned to benefit from the vast wind farms being built off our coast, but we must move quickly to ensure that our towns can service the green energy industry.

As the turbines turn, we need to take care that our fragile but precious inshore fishing industry is supported into a sustainable future. Our fishing towns and villages serve up so much more than the best fish and chips in the country. We have a delicious combination of tradition and innovation. Herrings are still smoked traditionally by five generations of the Fortune family to produce the famous Whitby kippers, which my late father adored.

As the lobster export capital of Europe, Yorkshire is indebted to the parents and carers of thousands of baby lobsters nurtured at the Whitby lobster hatchery. Scarborough is the country’s frozen chip capital, home to McCain Foods, and it is also home to SeaGrown, the first seaweed farm in Europe.

As for our traditional farmers, I understand that this is a difficult time for them. I was recently delighted to visit the Low Yedmandale and Spikers Hill farms outside Scarborough to better understand the challenges faced by our family farms.

Times are tough for far too many constituents. I thank the numerous organisations and charities dedicated to making lives better, including the Gallows Close centre, the Rainbow centre, Westway Open Arms, Flowergate Hall, the Eastside community centre, Closer Communities, Dalewood Trust, WHISH—Whitby Hidden Impairment Support and Help—and many others, too numerous to mention.

I am honoured to represent such a resilient and hard-working community, and I believe we are a good fit. My late mother was born into poverty in Hull. Under a Labour Government, she was able to retrain for free as a mature student to become a primary school teacher—a job she loved.

My son Edward was born with complex disabilities. Under a Labour Government, we benefited from the huge investment in health, in education and in schemes such as Sure Start. At 25, Edward has finally achieved his dream of going to university, and today he is watching his mum achieve hers.

Under this Labour Government, I will play my part as we lift more children out of poverty, address the crisis in special educational needs and disabilities provision, and improve life for paid and unpaid carers. I truly hope that I can repay the trust that my constituents have put in me.

In closing, as the first woman to represent Scarborough and Whitby, I pledge to play my part in our Government’s mission to halve violence against women and girls. As a proud graduate of the Jo Cox Women in Leadership scheme, I hope to honour Jo’s memory. I can see her coat of arms from where I stand. She may not have sat on the Government Benches, but she left a legacy that will ensure that hundreds more women like me will sit on them in the future.