Thomas Cook: Christi and Bobby Shepherd

Andrew Bingham Excerpts

Tuesday 14th July 2015 Commons Chamber

[Andrew Bingham (High Peak) (Con)]

I congratulate the hon. Member for Wakefield (Mary Creagh) on securing the debate and offer my sympathies to the family of Christi and Bobby in this truly tragic case, and indeed to my hon. Friend the Member for Mid Dorset and North Poole (Michael Tomlinson) on losing his brother. The hon. Lady made an impassioned speech.

I have long campaigned on carbon monoxide poisoning, because before being elected to this place there was a similar tragedy in my constituency. Carbon monoxide is known as the silent killer; we cannot see, taste or smell it. Last year I had an opportunity to introduce a private Member’s Bill. Rather than selecting a subject myself, I came up with three or four options and asked my constituents to choose which one they wanted me to introduce. They chose a Bill to make carbon monoxide detectors mandatory in rental and new-build properties. That showed that people are aware of the dangers of carbon monoxide, although not as aware as I would like them to be.

Nowadays people have smoke detectors without thinking about it, and carbon monoxide detectors should be just as prevalent. As many have said, including me, carbon monoxide detectors are not expensive and they save lives. Some people take them on holiday, having heard of cases such as the one the hon. Lady has talked about tonight. I did not succeed in getting my private Member’s Bill through, but I am pleased that the Government acknowledged the problem and introduced legislation on carbon monoxide detectors in rental properties, because that is where many of the tragedies happen.

I am vice-chair of the all-party group on carbon monoxide, which meets regularly. The case that the hon. Lady’s has raised relates to a holiday abroad, but there are also cases of carbon monoxide poisoning on holidays in this country, even on camping holidays, in caravans and in tents. I struggle to understand why, but some people have brought the embers from barbecues into their tents, presumably unaware of the dangers.

I commend the hon. Lady for securing a debate on this important subject, which is close to my heart. I will continue to campaign on it, because I want us to do everything we can, in this place or beyond, to make carbon dioxide detectors as ubiquitous as smoke detectors. As I have said, they are not expensive and they can easily be installed in rooms with appliances that could leak.

We must raise awareness of the consequences of carbon monoxide poisoning. Often people do not realise that they are affected. They could be sitting and watching television for a few nights and just think that they are feeling tired or drowsy, unaware—I am sorry for putting it so starkly—that they are slowly being poisoned. That is what carbon monoxide does; it poisons people without their knowing. We then have tragedies of the sort the hon. Lady has so eloquently set out tonight. I, for one, do not want to see any more tragedies like that, either in this country or abroad.