Christmas Adjournment

Jack Lopresti Excerpts

Thursday 17th December 2020 Commons Chamber

[Jack Lopresti (Filton and Bradley Stoke) (Con)]

I will be as brief as I can, and well under the eight minutes, I think, Madam Deputy Speaker.

Before I raise a couple of constituency issues, I would like to offer my sincere thanks to all the House staff—the policemen, doorkeepers, catering staff; virtually everyone who works here—who have done so much to support us during this difficult year so that we can continue to work as safely as we can. We must not forget that they come here at some risk to themselves, given that every week we travel in from all over the country. So we are very grateful and I wish them a happy and restful Christmas.

The first issue I would like to raise is the matter of the M49 Severnside junction. Before the 2015 election, along with my right hon. Friend the Member for Kingswood (Chris Skidmore) and representatives from South Gloucestershire Council, I began a campaign for a link road to connect the M49 directly to the Severnside enterprise and distribution area. The link road will unlock thousands of jobs in the area, which already has a number of significant distribution centres, such as Amazon, Royal Mail and GKN Aerospace.

The junction was almost completed by Highways England at the end of 2019, at a cost, so far, of £50 million to the taxpayer. Much to my astonishment, however, the project has not been completed because there was no legal undertaking whatsoever for Highways England, the developer and the landowner to complete the project by building the link roads to the motorway. I cannot understand how planning permission was granted without securing a legal undertaking from the developer to build the necessary roads to connect this junction to the motorway, which would, as I said, not only unlock local jobs, but relieve the traffic in small villages around the area, such as Easter Compton and Pilning, which would help with the environment and traffic disturbance. It would also potentially unlock a fantastic opportunity, with the free ports and Brexit, to build thousands of good, sustainable jobs.

I have written to Transport Ministers and had a meeting with the Secretary of State for Transport, who has personally written to the developer asking for an update and a timescale. There has been so far no response and no progress, and this unfinished project is just sitting there. It must be completed; I cannot and will not allow the situation to continue any longer if I can prevent it. In the new year, I will seek a meeting with my right hon. Friend the Prime Minister to see whether we can exert some pressure and get this project—this fantastic opportunity—completed, not only for all the benefits I have mentioned, but for the considerable money spent by the taxpayer.

The second matter I wish to raise, with associated issues, is defence spending. Filton and Bradley Stoke and the west of England region is a centre of excellence for the aerospace and defence industries. In my constituency, at least 20,000 people’s jobs are directly linked to aerospace and defence. The south-west of England’s aerospace cluster is the largest in Europe, and the UK’s aerospace industry is the second largest in the world.

The announcement that the Government will honour their pledge to continue to invest in this country’s armed forces is hugely welcome. The pledge of £16.5 billion over four years, combined with the manifesto commitment of a 0.5% uplift, means that the total increase for defence is a substantial £24.1 billion. Thus, if the defence budget for this year is £42.6 billion, by 2024 it will be £54 billion. That will ensure that we can keep the UK safe and confirm our place as the second largest contributor in the NATO alliance and the largest in Europe.

The increase will also help to secure hundreds of jobs in my constituency and investment in our future capability. It will allow us to enhance and maintain our vital strategic sovereign defence manufacturing capability. It means that we will continue to be a reliable partner to our allies and friends around the world and, importantly, able to conduct operations in our own right unilaterally. This is not just about exporting hard power; it is about soft power, our values and humanitarian operations as much as about safeguarding our homeland.

I promised to be brief, so related directly to defence spend is the Tempest programme, which I welcome and thank the Government for their ongoing commitment to. The programme is essentially the development of the next generation of fighter aircraft, which will ensure that the UK can retain its world-leading position in combat aerospace and guarantee freedom of action. As I have said, hundreds of jobs in my constituency will be protected and increased over the years of its development. It has brought together BAE Systems, Rolls-Royce, MBDA and other European partners. That is fantastic news, and not only for our strategic defence capability. My hon. Friend the Member for Pudsey (Stuart Andrew), the Deputy Chief Whip, who is sitting in front of me, is a former Defence Minister and has visited my constituency regarding this programme. I thank him for that.

On a related theme, I will continue to be a candid friend. I am bearing in mind that the Deputy Chief Whip is sitting there listening to every word, although he is my proxy so I cannot really do much damage at the moment. I would like to address the question of the UK’s aerospace early warning capability. We undertook to purchase five E-7 Wedgetail aircraft, which will help to protect our aerospace and our national deterrent, and will be part of our vital AEW&C—airborne early warning and control—working with our colleagues across the world, and in NATO in particular. Will the Government therefore use the additional flexibility and the extra money granted by a multi-year settlement to revisit the decision to reduce our initial order of five to three? The reduced number will adversely affect our ability to support our NATO allies as well as to protect our own skies.

Finally, I pay tribute to all the NHS workers, care workers and other key workers in my constituency for the work they have done in the past 12 months. I have been so inspired and impressed by the way that our small communities have worked together, looking after and taking extra care in minding our neighbours and friends. They, the faith groups, the churches and the voluntary sector have done an amazing job. We have all worked together and looked after one another, and I pay tribute to everyone for that. I wish everybody a very happy, peaceful and safe Christmas.