European Union Referendum Bill

Nusrat Ghani Excerpts

Tuesday 9th June 2015 Commons Chamber

[Nusrat Ghani (Wealden) (Con)]

Thank you, Mr Speaker, for giving me the opportunity to speak. It is a great honour to represent Wealden in Parliament, and I am thankful for the hard work of my volunteers and all the voters who placed their faith in me.

Wealden has always been highly selective in its choice of candidates and Members of Parliament. Fifteen years ago Charles Hendry, my respected predecessor, won the Conservative selection against a stellar list of candidates, most of whom ended up in the Cabinet. He even grabbed the seat from the present Prime Minister. I note that this time round, much of the Wealden shortlist has joined me in the House. No pressure, then.

Charles not only dedicated his life to public service and served our country as Energy Minister, but served twice as deputy chairman of the Conservative party and was chief of staff to William Hague when he was its leader. He and his wife Sallie were dedicated to the Conservative cause, and gave our party backbone, stability and common sense during the toughest of times. No doubt there are parties on the Opposition Benches that are looking around for a few Charles Hendrys of their own. They certainly need them.

Wealden is the most beautiful of constituencies, tucked away in East Sussex and described by G.K. Chesterton as

“the place where London ends and England can begin.”

The stunning Ashdown forest and the market towns of Crowborough, Uckfield and Hailsham, as well as numerous community-minded villages, mark Wealden out as quintessentially English, but we are by no means insular. Small businesses flourish, trading beyond Europe in the world. We have winners of the Queen’s award for enterprise and innovation, and we even export Sussex wine to France. However, we depend on our connections with the rest of the country and the wider world, which is why the state of the local infrastructure is a source of deep frustration for my constituents.

We have a thoroughly inadequate rail service, which frequently lets commuters down. Delays, cancellations and short trains, combined with a lack of communication with passengers, are simply not acceptable. Similarly, the broadband and mobile networks in Sussex need to improve. This is not just about the rural economy; given an increasingly elderly population, it is a vital social issue as well. We also suffer Gatwick as a neighbour, and its demand for a second runway does not sit well with my neighbours.

Britain’s relationship with Europe matters deeply to my constituents, and I am pleased to say that they have a history of always supporting the policies of the Government of the day on Europe. Back when the Weald was the centre of the iron-smelting industry, it produced the arrowheads that were used at Agincourt, and later made many of the cannon that were used to defeat Napoleon. During the second world war it was home to the Aspidistra project, transmitting black propaganda to Germany. Of course, we have no need of that now.

I hope that the prospect of a referendum convinces our European friends that we are serious about reasserting our sovereignty, and I am proud that this Government will give the people of this country the chance to decide on their future relationship with the EU. However, we must be careful not to turn the debate about our membership of an institution into a closed-minded attempt to pull up the drawbridge. This country is at its best when it is open to the world, embracing opportunities and welcoming people who want to contribute.

It will not have escaped the House’s notice that my roots are from further afield than East Sussex, and it says a great deal about the constituency which contains the oldest Conservative association in the country that it chose someone with a somewhat different background. You see, Mr Speaker, I am from Birmingham. In fact, my parents arrived in this country over 40 years ago. My father exchanged his Kashmiri headmaster’s cloak for Birmingham biscuit factory overalls, and here I am, just one generation later, giving my maiden speech in the greatest democratic Chamber in the world, and with the great privilege to represent thousands of voters across Wealden.

I draw inspiration from a saying of my most famous constituent that politicians everywhere should take to heart. It was Winnie the Pooh, resident of the Hundred Acre Wood in the Ashdown forest, who said:

“You can’t stay in your corner of the Forest waiting for others to come to you. You have to go to them sometimes.”

I shall endeavour to follow that advice in all I do here.