Driven Grouse Shooting

Debate between Andrew Bingham and Nigel Adams

Monday 31st October 2016 Westminster Hall

[Andrew Bingham]

The hon. Lady just said that there were none in the Peak district. I shall confirm it with the chap who found them, but he assured me. He actually said that he would be happy to speak to the hon. Lady if she wanted to. I have seen and heard of raptors living and encouraged throughout my constituency. The management of grouse moors requires the control of predators such as foxes, weasels and crows, which actually aids and promotes the survival of birds of prey.

I have seen the ecological benefits that the management of the moors can bring. There are claims that the burning of heather can result in the burning of the peat and so on. On Friday, I saw evidence that that is not the case. When it is done properly, the cool burning of heather does not burn the peat. If we left the heather unburned, it would grow longer and become more of a fire hazard, which, were it to catch light, certainly would burn the peat. The burning of heather, little and often, does not have an ecological impact.

As we have heard, there is also a philosophical opposition, which can be applied to many country sports, from grouse shooting through even to fishing. I have never been grouse shooting. My only experience of shooting is a couple of attempts at clay pigeon shooting that were not successful, so I have no vested interest other than the impact on my constituency. Shooting as a whole makes a contribution to country life and the rural economy.

[Nigel Adams]

Those who seek to ban driven grouse shooting, such as Mr Avery, who my hon. Friend the Member for Broxbourne (Mr Walker) referred to earlier, argue that walked-up shooting could be a practical alternative. Does my hon. Friend agree that that argument simply flies in the face of basic economics, given the obvious reduction in the bag and the amount of money that a day’s walked-up shooting would take compared with a driven day?

[Andrew Bingham]

I completely agree. I think the figures cited earlier were that that alternative would account for only 10% of the economic benefit of driven grouse shooting.

Non-league Football

Debate between Andrew Bingham and Nigel Adams

Thursday 4th September 2014 Commons Chamber

[Andrew Bingham (High Peak) (Con)]

This is an incredibly important debate, because it is really important that non-league football should survive. I congratulate my hon. Friend the Member for Hereford and South Herefordshire (Jesse Norman) on securing the debate. My knowledge of non-league football goes back to about 1973, when I started watching Buxton, and I wear my Buxton football club tie today with pride. I remember when Buxton won the Cheshire league, and I was a member of the committee that ran the club in the early 1990s. I used to travel to home and away matches.

The thing about non-league football is that it binds communities; it binds towns and areas together. When we used to go to watch Buxton, we used to travel up to Morecambe in the north-west. I can see the hon. Member for Stalybridge and Hyde (Jonathan Reynolds) in his place, and I can also remember many a famous victory at Bower Fold. I remember an auspicious 3-2 win in which I still reckon that the guys behind the goal got the penalty that won the match, but that is another story.

It was about the community. We used to go to matches, and we used to go into the bar beforehand and talk to the opposing supporters. We used to sit there and chew the fat about the good of non-league football and about how our team was better and their team was worse. It was a day out and it bound the community together. I remember the non-league football annual guide coming out at the beginning of each year, and I would buy my copy and tick off the grounds that I had been to. And people might think I am sad, but I always used to have season ticket No. 1 at Buxton. That is the kind of thing that non-league football does to people.

I recently went with my hon. Friend the Member for North Swindon (Justin Tomlinson)—who I believe is wearing his Swindon Supermarine tie today—to watch that team play, and I was very much reminded of Buxton. I shall also talk about Glossop North End in a moment. This is about local people working together for the good of the community and the good of the club. We see people rolling the ground and marking the pitch. Some of the white lines might not be very straight, but the work gets done, and it is done by local volunteers.

I look at non-league football today and I worry. I remember the day when Goole Town came to play Buxton, and they had Tony Currie playing for them. He looked like he had had a few more curries by then, but it was still Tony Currie. Even then, he had fantastic ball control. I think he still has—I do not know if he is watching this.

[Nigel Adams (Selby and Ainsty) (Con)]

I am sure that Tony Currie will be very grateful to my hon. Friend for that. He was an example of a player coming down from the higher leagues to play in non-league football. I remember watching Goole Town, freezing my toes off, as a youngster. We had a player called Tony Galvin—does my hon. Friend remember him?—who was sold to Tottenham Hotspur for £5,000. That was a huge amount of money for Goole Town. On a more serious point, does my hon. Friend feel that the obsession on the part of the larger clubs to import players from abroad denies that revenue to non-league clubs and denies their players the opportunity to get into the professional league?

Self-Employment

Debate between Andrew Bingham and Nigel Adams

Tuesday 24th January 2012 Westminster Hall

[Nigel Adams (Selby and Ainsty) (Con)]

Government should, of course, try to make it easier for entrepreneurs to start businesses. Like my hon. Friend the Member for Newton Abbot (Anne Marie Morris), I welcome the reintroduction of the enterprise allowance scheme, which enabled me to kick off my business in the early ’90s. I learned last night that in India, thanks to advances in technology, it is possible to incorporate a firm in 24 hours, which we cannot do here. We also need an increase in the availability of start-up loans. Banks should get better at providing some of the money that they were bailed out with.

In the spirit shown to my hon. Friend the Member for Enfield North (Nick de Bois), perhaps the Minister will consider this idea. Graduates who start businesses and then employ people should be eligible for university fee debt relief—well, that clearly went down well in the Chamber. I appreciate my colleagues’ support!

Starting a business should not be an ambition exclusively for young people. Many successful entrepreneurs become self-employed later in life after a successful career. They may be interested in helping others make money or they may become self-employed out of necessity or because of redundancy.

Advances in technology have led to an explosion of people working from home. As such an approach has advantages for family life, I urge the Government to continue their efforts in ensuring that every part of the UK gets access to superfast broadband.

If there is one thing that entrepreneurs know, it is that waiting for Parliament to act will get them nowhere. Entrepreneurs do not wait around for help; they take action. Although business people cannot do anything about clearing university fee debt or increasing the availability of start-up capital, which is down to the banks and venture capitalists, one obstacle they can help young people and anybody wanting to start a business overcome is lack of knowledge.

I am encouraged by the Government’s plans to set up a network of experienced mentors. For too long, business advice has been doled out by well meaning people who invariably have never run a business. Recently, I met some careers advisers who had hardly ever spoken to local employers.

I am pleased to say that via the excellent local business accelerators programme, which was set up by the Newspaper Society and backed by the Prime Minister and that excellent newspaper The Selby Times, I shall be providing mentoring to a local Selby business called LRB Trophies run by the Butler family. The company was born out of adversity, but it will hopefully go on to great things.

[Andrew Bingham (High Peak) (Con)]

Is my hon. Friend aware that the Prince’s Trust also runs a business mentoring scheme? I was a business mentor for the Trust, which helps young people to start businesses. Again, such organisations are really helpful for young people.

[Nigel Adams]

I am aware of that, and I am pleased that my hon. Friend is involved in such a scheme. It is crucial that people get to speak to those who have been at the coal face. There is nothing like real world experience to help people with small businesses.

The Government should say to existing business people with an interest in encouraging the next generation of entrepreneurs, “If you know anyone who is interested in entrepreneurship, be their mentor. Check out the excellent apprenticeship programmes at your local college and hire some apprentices. If you have kids of your own, involve them in your business at an early stage and show them that entrepreneurship is a viable option for them. Let anyone you come across know about the benefits and thrill of being their own boss.”

Finally, we should be celebrating entrepreneurs and the wealth creators and not demonising them. There is nothing wrong with success and there is nothing wrong with those who fail while trying to succeed. Those who put everything on the line to grow businesses, to create jobs and to pay the taxes that pay for the public sector and our services should be applauded and supported.