Debate on the Address

Brendan O'Hara Excerpts

Wednesday 27th May 2015 Commons Chamber

[Brendan O’Hara (Argyll and Bute) (SNP)]

Thank you, Mr Deputy Speaker, for the opportunity to contribute to the debate, and I am grateful to have caught your eye so early in the new Parliament. It is an honour to be the first of the new intake of 182 MPs to make my maiden speech in this Parliament.

Mr Deputy Speaker, I begin by extending my thanks to you and your staff for the welcome and help you have given to all of us new Members since our arrival in this place a couple of weeks ago. Indeed, it has not just been you and your staff; it has been everyone, from the Doorkeepers, Tea Room staff and Library staff to the police and security personnel, as well as other hon. Members, who have made us feel extremely welcome. I am sure I speak for all 50 of my new colleagues behind me when I say how enormously grateful we are.

I believe that that is extremely important because, despite the great political differences that exist between us—differences that will be fiercely debated over the next five years—it is essential to recognise from the outset that we come to this place in a spirit of mutual respect and co-operation. Each of us comes with that most important qualification—public support. I sincerely hope that that will be the hallmark of our time in this place.

I would like to thank the hon. Member for Nottingham North (Mr Allen) and the right hon. and learned Member for Harborough (Sir Edward Garnier) for their wise words. I am reminded that in 1886, the great R.B. Cunninghame Graham, the MP for North West Lanarkshire said in this Chamber that there was no better time to lose one’s parliamentary virginity than during the Queen’s Speech. I remain, however, to be convinced.

R.B. Cunninghame Graham was a man ahead of his time. Elected as a Liberal in 1888 he, along with Keir Hardie, founded the Scottish Labour party—one of two venerable Scottish institutions founded in 1888. I am delighted to report that at least one of them remains in robust health to this day. As I say, Cunninghame Graham was a man ahead of his time: a Liberal who founded the Labour party and ended his political career as president of the Scottish National party. His was a political journey with which we in Scotland have become very familiar in recent years—and never more so than in May’s general election when 56 of the 59 Scottish constituencies returned SNP Members to this place.

For the first time ever, the four constituent parts of this United Kingdom delivered four very different verdicts on how this country should progress. This may seem like a circle that cannot be squared, but our constituents expect us to find a way of working together constructively—and that we must do. We were therefore disappointed at the content of the Queen’s Speech. Despite having very different visions of the future of these islands, I can guarantee that we will continue to work constructively with other hon. Members, and we will never lose sight of why we were elected in the first place, which is to win substantial new powers for the Scottish Parliament, to bring an end to the failed and divisive policy of austerity, and to oppose the plan to renew the Trident missile system at a cost of £100,000,000,000 to the public purse. These are missiles, incidentally, that will be situated in my constituency of Argyll and Bute.

Before continuing, I would like to take this opportunity to pay tribute to my predecessor, Mr Alan Reid, who represented the constituency for 14 years. Mr Reid was a hard-working, affable and popular Member of Parliament whose defeat in May was no reflection on him as an individual, but was rather a verdict by the Scottish people on the Liberal Democrats’ decision to go into coalition with the Conservatives in 2010, coupled with a burning desire on the part of the people of Scotland for radical change. I take this opportunity to wish Mr Reid all the best for his future.

I am certain that during his 14 years as MP, Mr Reid would have worn through many a set of tyres and consumed many a box of sea-sickness tablets—and I look forward to doing the same. At 7,000 sq km, Argyll and Bute represents no less than one tenth of the landmass of Scotland. With 26 inhabited islands, our aggregated coastline is, I believe, longer than that of France. So while travel across this vast and beautiful constituency may be challenging, it is more than compensated for by the staggering beauty on offer. Having spoken to many hon. Members, I know that many of them have enjoyed many a visit and holiday to Argyll and Bute in the past, and I urge them to return soon. To those who have not yet visited my constituency, I say please come to Argyll and Bute, because I can guarantee that the scenery, the mountains, the beaches, the rivers, our islands and our people will be among the most welcoming that they will experience anywhere in the world.

Argyll and Bute is famous for many things, perhaps none more than for the quality of our water—particularly when it has been distilled with malt and a little peat. To let Members into a secret, we have even taken to bottling this concoction. If hon. Members have yet to sample it, I suggest that they do so at the earliest opportunity. Not only will they find it refreshing and invigorating, but with 56 of us now occupying these Benches, it may well assist in their understanding of what we are actually saying.

Despite everything Argyll and Bute has to offer, we face real challenges. We have an ageing and a declining population, as too many of our young people leave and do not return, while too few people from other parts of these islands are moving into the constituency to set up businesses and raise families. One reason for that is the lack of reliable, high-speed broadband and 4G communications across much of the constituency. It is unacceptable that in 2015 the economic development of such a large part of Scotland is inhibited by slow internet connections and poor mobile phone coverage. How can we expect to attract ambitious, young entrepreneurs to Argyll and Bute without the basic infrastructure that can be enjoyed in nearly every other part of the United Kingdom? We cannot wait any longer for this, and I very much welcome the Scottish Government’s £400 million investment in rolling out high-speed broadband across rural Scotland. For us, it cannot come quickly enough. Before I was elected, I promised the people of Argyll and Bute that this would be one of my main priorities. I am happy to repeat that promise in this place today.

I am the first nationalist MP to represent the people of Argyll and Bute since the late Iain MacCormick was elected in 1974. Iain lived long enough to vote in September’s independence referendum, managing—despite being gravely ill—to get to the polling station to vote yes on 18 September. Iain sadly died the following day, without living long enough to see an independent Scotland. I like to think that he would view my presence in this place as a reasonable second prize, and I shall raise a glass of Argyll and Bute’s finest “special water” in his memory tonight.

As I said at the start of my speech, we come to this place in a spirit of mutual respect and co-operation, but Members should be in no doubt that we are determined to achieve what the people of Scotland elected us to do. I am sure that the Government will recognise the mandate that we have from the people of Scotland, and will act accordingly. There can be no more one-size-fits-all policies covering everything and everyone from Truro to Thurso; and there can be no return to “business as usual” for Scotland.