Telecommunications (Security) Bill (First sitting)

James Wild Excerpts

Committee stage & Committee Debate: 1st sitting: House of Commons
Thursday 14th January 2021 Public Bill Committees

[James Wild (North West Norfolk) (Con)]

Q Hopefully my question has a simple yes-or-no answer. The Bill enables the Secretary of State to issue directions to telcos not to use a designated vendor’s equipment. Does that provide the legal certainty that you need—a direction based on national security—to deal with any contractual issues you might have with those suppliers?

Patrick Binchy: I do not think it is quite as simple as yes or no; there are some challenges in how those rules and laws are articulated, and whether that allows us to move away from our commercial obligations. Of course we work with NCSC, and so far, what is in place is fully aligned with the direction taken by the Government and the Bill, so in this case, we believe it is sufficient.

Derek McManus: I refer you to Patrick’s answer. I have nothing specific to add.  It depends on the circumstances. We continue to collaborate, and to speak with the authorities to ensure that we align with current and future needs, from a security point of view.

Andrea Donà: We will abide by the requirements.

[The Chair]

Superb—textbook answers.

Fairs and Showgrounds

James Wild Excerpts

Thursday 17th December 2020 Westminster Hall

[James Wild (North West Norfolk) (Con)]

Thank you, Mr Hollobone, and it is a pleasure to serve under your chairmanship for the first time. I congratulate the hon. Member for Glasgow East (David Linden) on securing the debate. As a fellow member of the APPG on fairs and showgrounds, I am grateful for the great work that he and my hon. Friend the Member for Southend West (Sir David Amess) have done on this issue over so many years.

As a new MP, my interest in this subject comes from the King’s Lynn mart, which is the oldest fair in the country. Its traditional Valentine’s Day opening ceremony marks the first event in the travelling showman’s calendar. This year, I was delighted to attend the 816th mart and be part of the procession through the town, before taking part in some competitive dodgem driving and whizzing down the helter-skelter. Despite what is known locally as mart weather, the event was typically popular, with families coming along to enjoy the rides and attractions with great optimism about what was to come. A little more than a month later, however, we entered a national lockdown and everything changed.

I am speaking in this debate to represent, in particular, my constituent Colleen Roper. She is the sixth generation of a fairground family, and I encourage everyone to visit her fairground, Rainbow Park in Hunstanton. Along with five other female showmen, she formed the Future 4 Fairgrounds group. They did so as wives and mothers, proud of their heritage, but increasingly concerned about the impact on the future of their families and that of the 20,000 showmen across the United Kingdom. They want to celebrate their history, to highlight the present situation and to talk about the future for fairgrounds.

In that spirit, I will focus my remarks on three areas. First, as the hon. Member for Glasgow East touched on, there is a need for greater consistency between the national guidance and how local authorities are acting on the ground. The DCMS position is admirably clear, as my hon. Friend the Minister recently set out to me in a written answer:

“Funfairs and fairgrounds…will be permitted to reopen in all three tiers as they were prior to this period”,

the second “period of national restrictions”. The answer also talked about

“how Local Authorities should support event organisers to hold outdoor events safely.”

That is great, so what is the problem? As we heard, the organisers need to get permission from local authorities. Future 4 Fairgrounds told me this morning that it has continued to see cancellations of winter fairgrounds and, even worse, that fairgrounds have been stopped from operating shows that they had been told could go ahead. That has been an issue since 4 July, when covid-secure events were allowed to happen.

Fairgrounds spent considerable amounts of money and effort to be covid-secure, and it has been incredibly frustrating for them not be able to have their events while other events have gone ahead. We should not underestimate either the financial impact of that, or the mental health and wellbeing impact of having all those events cancelled. Will the Minister work with the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government to provide more encouragement, or perhaps even give direction, to local authorities to tackle that inconsistency, so that funfairs and fairgrounds can safely reopen across the country?

Secondly, fairgrounds are an important part of our rich cultural heritage. This is a profession that dates back hundreds of years. Showmen are businessmen and women, but they are also a community. The King’s Lynn mart was granted its royal charter by Henry VIII, and many fairs across the country have been a staple of their communities for generations. In the 1860s, Frederick Savage of Lynn began supplying steam-powered fairgrounds rides, as is recorded in the Lynn museum—again, I encourage people to visit. In the words of his 1902 “Catalogue for Roundabouts”,

“we have patented and placed upon the market all the principal novelties that have delighted the many thousands of pleasure seekers at home and abroad.”

Fairgrounds are places where memories are made. Despite that, as Future 4 Fairgrounds has highlighted, travelling fairgrounds are not being given equal status with theatres, museums and other organisations in applying to the cultural recovery fund. I would therefore be grateful if the Minister, when he responds to the debate, addressed those concerns and gave an assurance that any future applications will be considered on equal terms.

Finally, this debate is about the future of fairgrounds. They do have a future and they must have a future, but showmen’s lives have been put on hold. For all the families in the showmen’s community, there is a need for greater certainty for the winter events and for next season. Discussions are ongoing about the Lynn mart next year—I encourage my hon. Friend the Minister to join me at that excellent event. I hope that in 2021, once again, across the country, people will be able to enjoy a local fairground.

Football Spectator Attendance: Covid-19

James Wild Excerpts

Monday 9th November 2020 Westminster Hall

[James Wild (North West Norfolk) (Con)]

I declare an interest as a Norwich City season ticket holder and a supporter of my local club, King’s Lynn Town FC. This is an important debate. When the national restrictions end on 2 December, we should let fans back into grounds.

Having been one of the 1,000 fans in the crowd at Norwich City’s game against Preston North End—one of the pilot matches—I am confident that that can be done safely. Fans were asked to arrive in good time; there were temperature and ID checks; food and drink areas were closed in the grounds, so hawkers brought stuff to people in their seats; fans were socially distanced and in the fresh air; and exits were staggered at the end. There has been no evidence of transmission from pilot matches. Indeed, the Minister told me in a written answer that the Department was confident that any issues could be mitigated.

We need to let fans back in because the current restrictions are having a major impact on clubs’ finances and threatening their futures. King’s Lynn FC depends on match day income to survive, and while I welcome the funding provided to the national league and thank my hon. Friend the Minister for his work and efforts in securing that, it does not make up for the loss of revenue that club is experiencing. Norwich City’s accounts, published last week, showed it had lost £12 million due to covid, yet the Premier League has only made a derisory offer of £20 million for leagues one and two, with a further £30 million of loans, and no support for championship teams. I share the Government’s view, and that of other hon. Members who have spoken today: the Premier League needs to take a long-term view of the importance of the pyramid, and support championship and league one clubs. Leaving it to the Premier League to sort it out is clearly not working, and if there is not movement, then the Government need to step in and tell it what is expected.

It is the impact on the fans—the 12th player—that is my major concern. Football is not just a game: it is much more than that. Clubs, as we have heard, are at the heart of our communities. They give people a sense of belonging; of being part of a family of fans. Going to matches is a huge part of their lives, and not being allowed in hurts their mental health. This weekend, King’s Lynn beat Port Vale in the first round of the FA cup—a great result, but no fans were there, and watching on a streaming service is no substitute. The Sports Grounds Safety Authority has given King’s Lynn approval to have 1,400 fans in its ground. Norwich has been allowed to have 8,000 fans, rather than the 26,000 that can usually be seen at fortress Carrow Road; it will make it work.

To conclude, Norwich’s joint majority shareholder, Delia Smith, has written an open letter to my right hon. Friend the Prime Minister that asks,

“before the final whistle is blown, can we have our football back?”

I say to the Minister:

“Come on, let’s be having you!”

Let fans in.

Tourism: Covid-19

James Wild Excerpts

Thursday 10th September 2020 Commons Chamber

[James Wild (North West Norfolk) (Con)]

I join in the congratulations to my hon. Friend the Member for North Devon (Selaine Saxby) on having secured this debate. I offer my apologies: I have been scrutinising the Fisheries Bill, but look forward to reading her speeches and those of others in Hansard tomorrow.

Tourism is a vital part of west Norfolk’s economy, with visitors coming to enjoy our wonderful coastline, countryside, heritage, food attractions, drink and a lot more. The local visitor economy is worth around £500 million, with tourism and related jobs making up a fifth of all employment. Last year, 2019, was a record year for tourism in Norfolk, and this was meant to be another year of growth, but the covid lockdown has hit the area hard and had a disproportionate impact among young people, who hold around a third of the travel and tourism jobs in the sector, compared with just 12% of jobs more generally.

My constituents are grateful for the bold package of support that the Government put in place for tourism and hospitality businesses; it provided a lifeline and desperately needed cash flow. Despite firms being able to trade in the late summer, that has not mitigated the time when they had no income—especially when 70% of business activity normally takes place between April and October. My hon. Friend the Minister, who is a great champion of the sector, knows that the business rates holiday and the cut in VAT have been warmly welcomed. I join others who have spoken in this debate in support of the calls from the sector to extend both those measures to help to boost the sector.

As well as fiscal measures, one of the best things we can do to encourage people support tourism is to have staycations and visit coastal and rural areas. I was pleased and delighted when the Prime Minister, in this House, encouraged people to come to sunny Hunny for their staycation. I took his advice and had a lovely week in a camper van, going around my constituency—including to Hunstanton, Brancaster and Burnham—and enjoying the wildlife, pubs, historic King’s Lynn and all there is to offer.

My hon. Friend the Minister will know from his visit to Norfolk—I invite him to venture into west Norfolk next time—that all the local authorities and marketing organisations are working together for the first time on the Unexplored England campaign, to boost this season and encourage bookings for next year. The extension of the all-year-round economy and off-season experiences, and the reduction of the reliance on peak months, are all key to driving productivity and growth.

In addition to encouraging visitors, we should do all we can to reduce red tape, so I support the calls from Deepdale Backpackers & Camping in my constituency to waive or extend the 28-day farmland rule to provide more flexibility to take advantage of the home tourism market.

Finally, we need to look to the future, and a significant opportunity is to become one of the new tourism zones. Norfolk and Suffolk should be at the front of the queue, with much work having been done by Visit East of England. Our pitch will focus on being the most sustainable tourism destination, with a strong sector skills offer for young people. I will be championing that bid, and I look forward to discussing it with this and other Ministers.

Oral Answers to Questions

James Wild Excerpts

Thursday 16th January 2020 Commons Chamber

[Helen Whately]

As the hon. Gentleman said, we announced last year that we would be increasing society lottery sales and prize limits. These changes require affirmative secondary legislation, and our aim is to lay this in Parliament very soon.

[James Wild (North West Norfolk) (Con)]

T5. While I warmly welcome the pledge to deliver gigabit broadband, many of my constituents in Grimston, Heacham, Brancaster and other places have yet to receive speeds of 10 megabits per second. Will the Minister confirm that the plans are ready to deliver minimum speeds from March, and that the Government will hold BT to account to do that?

[The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport (Matt Warman)]

My hon. Friend is right that we must ensure that the 10-megabit universal service obligation is delivered on the ground. We will of course continue to talk to the two providers— BT and KCOM—to ensure that it is there when it needs to be in March this year.