Tourism: Northumberland
Debate between Chris Bryant and Joe Morris(6 days, 11 hours ago)
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Joe Morris
I thank the Minister and everyone who has contributed to this very good and enlightening debate. To pick up on a point that my hon. Friend the Member for Cramlington and Killingworth (Emma Foody) made, I should point out that I did grow up in Hexham and am very proud to have grown up in Hexham, although I do support Sunderland. As I said to many of my constituents during the general election campaign, if I can grow up in the north-east and support Sunderland during the 15 and 19-point seasons, I think I can go down to Parliament and advocate for us quite strongly.
Joe Morris
It certainly teaches resilience. That is one thing that supporting an underwhelming sports team does.
The Minister mentioned music. I should mention Larry O’Donnell, one of my constituency members, who is a bassoonist in the north-east and has often spoken to me about the good work that he and his orchestra do in promoting access to music. I celebrate that.
I have a few points to make as I wind up and thank everyone for their contributions. We need to make sure that tourism is sustainable—that is absolutely right. We need to make sure that the roads are intact, that buses and trains are turning up on time and that we bring local communities with us.
I turn briefly to the landscapes of my constituency. I have been privileged in the past weeks, months and year since being selected as a candidate to engage with the farming community and the work that they have done to diversify, such as by bringing holiday cottages on to their sites. I pay tribute to them as the custodians of Northumberland’s landscape. They are fundamental to a lot of what we offer in Northumberland. It would not be right to talk about tourism without talking about the great work being done by the farming community.
I thank English Heritage for welcoming me to Belsay Hall a few weeks ago. It remains my grandmother’s favourite day out. It was her birthday on Friday; I have got her the mention in Hansard that I promised.
I thank everyone again for taking part in the debate. As the Minister says, we need to grow tourism, but we need to make sure that we grow it outside London and ensure that when people are coming from Chicago, New York, Los Angeles or Tokyo, they consider coming to Hexham spook night, perhaps when they are attending a Newcastle United home game—or a Sunderland home game, in fact. I look forward to welcoming the Minister to one of the many festivals and events in my constituency.
Question put and agreed to.
Resolved,
That this House has considered increasing tourism in Northumberland.