Gibraltar and the George Cross

Debate between Jack Lopresti and Oliver Colvile

Tuesday 22nd October 2013 Westminster Hall

[Oliver Colvile]

I thank my hon. Friend for that wonderful intervention. As hon. Members may know, Gibraltar is the battle honour of which the Royal Marines are most proud. Gibraltar appears on their berets, and they take a massive pride in that battle honour; indeed, it is the only one that they recognise. For me, that badge encapsulates the Royal Marines and their commando spirit.

Beneath the Rock of Gibraltar, the only landmark in the region, sits the densely populated city. It is home to more than 30,000 Gibraltarians, who in 1967 and 2002 rejected proposals for them to become part of Spain. It is a major economic motor in that part of southern Spain. In the 2002 referendum, 99% of Gibraltarians voted to remain British.

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

I congratulate my hon. Friend on securing this debate. He quite rightly pays tribute to Gibraltar’s fantastic past glories, especially when it comes to military capability. He and I both have a great connection with Gibraltar through our south-west constituencies. It is worth mentioning that we are not talking just about the past, even though his campaign may be about the past. I want to put on the record how grateful we are that Gibraltar is of vital strategic value in the Mediterranean and for our forward operating base capabilities. Indeed, it recently played a role in Operation Ellamy.

[Oliver Colvile]

I thank my hon. Friend for his intervention, and I welcome him back to the House of Commons after the rather difficult time that he had over the summer. He makes a fair point, which I hope to deal with. Gibraltar played a significant role prior to the battle of Trafalgar and during the Crimean war. Its strategic value increased with the opening of the Suez canal, because it lay on the sea routes between Britain and the British empire east of Suez. If Britain had not had control of those straits, we would not have been able to bottle up the French fleet in the Mediterranean during the Napoleonic wars. That would have allowed the French to come out from Toulon and run all over the Atlantic.

Gibraltar also played a major role during the second world war. The decision by the Spanish dictator Franco to remain neutral during the war, and Spain’s reluctance to allow the German army on to Spanish soil, stopped Hitler gaining control of the strategic naval port. Gibraltar has not only provided a naval base and dockyard for our Royal Navy to operate from, but has ensured that we have a Mediterranean base where ships and submarines can be repaired when out on operations.

I believe that by giving Gibraltar the George Cross, Britain will send a clear message that we want to thank the Gibraltarians for their loyalty and that we abide by the commitment that the Gibraltarians have shown in referendums to remaining a British overseas territory. Consistently, Spain has campaigned for the British Government to hand over sovereignty of the Rock. The current dispute over the fishing reef is yet another example of how the Spanish Government do not get the message. For some reason they think that if they carry on pushing they will get a result. I hope that nothing could be further from the truth.

It has always been said that Gibraltar will cease to be British only when the monkeys leave the Rock. The last time I was there was on national day last year, when I met a delightful former Miss World, and I assure you, Mr Crausby, that the monkeys were present in abundance. They stole fruit from my bedroom in the Rock hotel. I fully realise that the Government must consider proposals of this kind case by case. However, giving Gibraltar the George Cross would support its fortitude, loyalty and determination, and would emphasise the nature of the honour—an emphasis established by George VI himself. Anyone who wants to join me, the Friends of Gibraltar and Gibraltar’s Equality Rights group in the campaign for the George Cross can access the petition on http://dorcasmedia.com/gibraltar-petition or on the George Cross for Gibraltar Facebook page. In so doing they will be sending a very clear message: hands off our Rock!

Military Covenant

Debate between Jack Lopresti and Oliver Colvile

Wednesday 21st November 2012 Commons Chamber

[Oliver Colvile (Plymouth, Sutton and Devonport) (Con)]

I congratulate the Democratic Unionist party on having the foresight to secure this debate on the military covenant. It was perhaps sad that we were unable to discuss the matter immediately before Remembrance Sunday, as it would have been particularly pertinent at that time. The debate nevertheless gives me an opportunity to talk about some of the issues that affect the military in my constituency.

I also want to thank the Minister of State, Ministry of Defence, my right hon. Friend the Member for Rayleigh and Wickford (Mr Francois) for his announcement about HMS Caroline. That was brilliant news. I would like to ask the DUP and the Executive in Northern Ireland to ensure that representatives from Devonport are invited to see it in Belfast, because it started life in Devonport; that is where it was built. It was one of the last ships to be built there, in 1914.

I pay tribute to those Northern Irish and Irish soldiers, sailors and airmen who have served in our armed forces. I also want to pay tribute to those members of 3 Commando Brigade who died during the troubles in Northern Ireland. We need to recognise them. All too often that has not happened because people were more interested in what was happening in Iraq and Afghanistan.

I welcome this opportunity to talk about the military covenant. A number of things need to be done, and I welcome the fact that the Government will be publishing their first report before Christmas. The issues affect not only the regulars but the reservists. I want to say a little about the reservists, because it is their families who end up bearing an awful lot of the brunt when their husbands or partners—or even their wives—go abroad to serve on operations. I hope that we can have a debate about what we are trying to do for reservists’ families.

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

The families do not lack support when the reservists are away; the support received from the regiment is second to none. It is when a reservist is demobilised and returns to civilian life that they feel the most isolated and in need of support. When a regiment comes back from theatre, the individual soldiers have the support mechanism of their comrades and the family of the regiment itself, but the reservists go back to being civilians. They lack having comrades around them who understand what they have been through and the readjustments that they are having to make.

[Oliver Colvile]

My hon. Friend makes a fair point. That is certainly the line from the Army, but those in the Royal Navy—or, for that matter, the Royal Marines or the Royal Air Force—do not necessarily live on base in the same way, and therefore both regulars and reservists can feel isolated during that process. Those serving in the Royal Navy and the Royal Marines do not normally live on base. They are encouraged to buy their own homes. The Government need to look at how we can encourage such people to get on to the property ladder.

The reservist families need a significant amount of support. When I was on Woodbury Common last year on the armed forces parliamentary scheme, I came across a Royal Marine—I do not know whether he was a reservist, but I suspect he was—who lived in Aylesbury. He said that when he went home, he experienced some real difficulties. He wanted to talk to his friends about what had happened during his time in Afghanistan, but he found that it was not easy to do so. When he went back to his wife and said, “I have had an interesting time”, she said, “Don’t talk to me about what kind of day you’ve had; I’ve ended up having to answer 300 e-mails.” Perhaps she was working for a Member of Parliament and replying to constituents. He had been under mortar fire for seven or eight hours during the day and found it difficult to talk to her about that, so he went off to find his mates, but they had not been through that experience either, and they also had difficulty understanding what he was talking about. He thus had to go and find his fellow Royal Marines to talk to, as they understood his experiences.

We need to ensure that we set up a chat room for those reservist families so that they are able to talk to each other while their husbands or family members are away. I very much welcome the comments made about TRiM—trauma risk management. We recently had a breakfast here with the Royal Marines, and they talked enormously about it. In Plymouth, Sutton and Devonport, we have signed the community covenant, too, which is working incredibly well. Last Friday, we talked quite extensively about how to ensure that people are looked after in respect of housing, for example.

Support for UK Armed Forces and Veterans

Debate between Jack Lopresti and Oliver Colvile

Thursday 3rd March 2011 Commons Chamber

[Oliver Colvile (Plymouth, Sutton and Devonport) (Con)]

Thank you, Madam Deputy Speaker, for calling me to speak in this debate. I congratulate the right hon. Member for Lagan Valley (Mr Donaldson) on securing this debate, which is apt, given the announcements earlier this week about redundancies in the armed forces, as the coalition Government try to close the £38 billion shortfall in the Ministry of Defence budget.

Veterans’ issues are very important in my Plymouth, Sutton and Devonport constituency, which is not only one of the homes of the Royal Navy—of which it is very proud—but a home for the Royal Marines and for 3 Commando Brigade, which will go to Afghanistan in just a few weeks. I would like to take this opportunity to pay tribute to all going there, to wish them the best of luck and to wish them Godspeed in their safe return—without any loss of life and hopefully without injuries.

I know that no Conservative Members were elected in the hope that we would cut our armed forces or make people redundant. I am sure that applies to Opposition Members as well. I was horrified by the recent announcement about the sacking of service personnel by e-mail, but I am delighted by and greatly welcome the Secretary of State’s commitment that nobody in 3 Commando Brigade will be made redundant while away.

We must recognise that today’s servicemen and women are tomorrow’s veterans. They put their lives on the line to protect our freedoms and we need to ensure that we look after them afterwards. Many people of my age—I had a father who served and gained a distinguished service cross in the Narvik campaign in the 1940s—see veterans as people who either served in the second world war or in Korea or, for that matter, in the Falklands. It is interesting to note that next year we will commemorate the 30th anniversary of the Falklands conflict. I would be grateful if the Minister told us what we are going to do to remember that anniversary—next year as well—because many people from Plymouth were certainly affected by the conflict. I add a strong plea that the Minister has heard before—I am going to repeat it—for Plymouth to be the centre for the national commemoration for veterans weekend in 2012. We should remember that Plymouth is not Portsmouth and that we are not 20 minutes away from Bristol.

This picture of white-haired veterans is not exactly appropriate for today. Today, a lot of young people in their late 20s and early 30s are going to be our veterans. Their time saving our country and putting their lives on the line is just one part of a series of careers that they might have during the course of their time on this earth.

I welcome the initiative of my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Education to recruit some veterans into the education system to help with teaching. I remember being at prep school as a child of eight. One of my masters was regularly carted off to hospital because of the gas he had inhaled in the first world war. We had nothing but total support for him, and his authority in the classroom ensured that we were brought up in a very disciplined way. If I may say so, I certainly hope that our service personnel who become teachers will act in the same way to put some authority and discipline back into the classroom—especially in some of our inner-city schools. I am delighted that Plymouth university is in the process of sponsoring a marine academy in the city. I hope it will look at ways of recruiting some of the ex-service personnel to teach there, which would be most helpful. Will the Minister spell out how this plan might work?

The other big issues faced by our veterans relate to mental health. Last autumn, the Prime Minister gave a commitment that the Government would implement the “Fighting Fit” report by my hon. Friend the Member for South West Wiltshire (Dr Murrison). That has been welcomed by several charities, including Combat Stress and Plymouth Mind. Will my right hon. Friend the Minister update us on progress on ensuring that the actions recommended in the report are delivered? Will he confirm whether those actions will be fully funded by the national health service? When my right hon. Friend the Minister is next in Plymouth, perhaps he will join me in visiting the Hasler company in HMS Drake, as they do great work to deal with complex issues, including issues of mental health.

We have talked a great deal about veterans who have been full-time soldiers, sailors and airmen, but reservists are occasionally overlooked. My hon. Friend the Member for Filton and Bradley Stoke (Jack Lopresti)—he will look horrified that I am referring to him again—who was a reservist with 29 Commando before he entered the House, regularly reminds me that reservists sometimes have to go back to homes and communities where no one has any idea what they have been up to.

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

My hon. Friend is kind to mention my service, but I want to put it on record that it was very modest. May I echo his comments about 3 Commando Brigade, and especially about the men from 29 Commando who are now going back out to Helmand? I hope that they have a great tour and come back safely, and I wish I was going with them.

[Oliver Colvile]

I thank my hon. Friend. We should ensure that the mechanisms and infrastructure are in place to look after reservists once they come back.

Last week, on a course, I was approached by the Royal British Legion, which told me that it would be enormously helpful if the Government made reservists’ details available to charities. To overcome data protection restrictions, perhaps reservists should be asked to tick a box that would allow their details to be shared with such excellent charities. I hope that my right hon. Friend the Minister will be willing to take that on board. Will he ensure that, as they say in the Navy, it is “Anchors aweigh”, and that we see action on this matter?

Localism Bill

Debate between Jack Lopresti and Oliver Colvile

Monday 17th January 2011 Commons Chamber

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

One of the messages that I hear on the doorstep is that for my constituents one of the biggest failures of the previous Administration was the culture of central Government control that they perpetuated. It was a restrictive and domineering culture that affected the local community detrimentally, with decisions being made in Westminster and Whitehall that bore no resemblance to local feeling and showed no understanding of it.

When the new Government pledged a fundamental shift of power from Westminster to local people in the coalition’s programme for government, it was therefore very welcome indeed. The Government have since promoted decentralisation and democratic engagement, and the Bill will end the era of top-down government by giving new powers to local councils, communities, neighbourhoods and individuals.

My firm belief is that the Bill will be a landmark piece of legislation. It will remove the inflated power of central Government in local decisions and the top-down control of communities, and it will liberate local people by restoring their freedom to run their own lives and neighbourhoods in the way that they and the local community see fit.

The Bill will give control back to local people and communities. It will give our constituents the opportunity to hold their local authorities to account, and they will have the power to take over services through a new right to challenge. As a result, local people and communities will have a real say in their areas, a new right to bid to buy local assets and a new right to veto excessive council tax rises through a referendum.

My local council, South Gloucestershire council, is offering the community the right to buy even before it has been implemented. It is giving the Save Conygre house campaign group, which is behind efforts to save the historic Conygre house, in Filton where I live, the time and space to build a business case for taking on the facility and making it a focal point for the Filton community. With this Bill, councils throughout the country will be encouraged to follow suit, which I know local communities will welcome with open arms. All the new measures can only be of benefit to our communities, and they will lead to a new era of public engagement in local government. The new rights will plant the seed of local commitment and responsibility for our local areas.

For councils, the Bill will fundamentally change the restrictions on their freedom and autonomy. It will devolve significant new powers to them, including new freedoms and flexibilities, and enable them to act in the interests of their local communities through a new general power of competence. Rather than needing to rely on specific powers, they will have the legal reassurance and confidence to innovate, drive down costs and deliver more efficient services.

It is clear that many councils have been calling for legislation such as this for many years. Back in 2009, South Gloucestershire council’s Conservative cabinet used the Sustainable Communities Act 2007 to call on the previous Government to scrap the regional spatial strategy, with its target of 32,800 houses for the district, and to call for small business rate relief to be paid automatically. The previous Government sat on the proposals, but the coalition Government have now confirmed to the council that both demands will be implemented through the current Bill.

I have long advocated the idea that large cities would benefit from elected mayors. I fully support the Government’s pledge to introduce elected mayors for the 12 largest cities outside London, subject of course to local referendums and full scrutiny by elected councillors. I believe that elected mayors would boost democratic engagement, as has been demonstrated in the London mayoral elections. An elected mayor for a city such as Bristol would benefit local people, because that person would enhance the city’s prestige and civic pride. The city would also benefit from the strong leadership that the position would enable its holder to enact, and from a clear demonstration that somebody was publicly in charge and taking responsibility. There would also be better clarity and accountability in decision making.

The reforms in the Bill will let councils and communities run their own affairs, which will serve to restore civic pride, democratic accountability and economic growth and build a stronger, fairer Britain. The Bill will mark the end of the era of big government and lay the foundations for the big society.

[Oliver Colvile]

On a point of order, Madam Deputy Speaker. When I intervened earlier, I should have declared an interest as per the Register of Members’ Financial Interests. I wish to apologise profusely.