Parliamentary Voting System and Constituencies Bill

Sarah Newton Excerpts

Tuesday 15th February 2011 Commons Chamber

[Stephen Williams (Bristol West) (LD)]

rose—

[Sarah Newton (Truro and Falmouth) (Con)]

rose—

[Joan Walley (Stoke-on-Trent North) (Lab)]

rose—

--- Later in debate ---

[Sarah Newton]

I strongly welcome these amendments, because it is vital that people’s voices are heard, especially those of the people of Cornwall, who mounted a hugely successful campaign about our desire to keep Cornwall whole. I hope that through these opportunities for public meetings, we might yet succeed in achieving that. Does the Minister agree that it would be very desirable to have one such public meeting in Cornwall, given the strength of feeling there?

[Mr Harper]

I thank my hon. Friend for making that point. It is obviously not for the Government to tell the boundary commissions what to do, but one of the reasons for ensuring that there can be several inquiries in various regions is that the commissions will be mindful of the areas where they suspect there will be considerable public interest. It is fairly obvious to everybody that, in the south-west of England, Cornwall will be one of those places where members of the public, in particular, and of course Members of Parliament, will be very keen to make that case.