Coastguard Service

Simon Hart Excerpts

Thursday 24th March 2011 Westminster Hall

[Simon Hart (Carmarthen West and South Pembrokeshire) (Con)]

Given the time available, I will restrict my comments entirely to the coastal community of Pembrokeshire. We are proud of our national park and of the people who look after it; we are proud of the industries that surround Milford Haven; and we are proud of the coastguard that has looked after it for such a long time with such skill and dedication. We are also proud of my hon. Friend the Member for Preseli Pembrokeshire (Stephen Crabb) for doing so much work on the topic, although his responsibilities in the Whips Office prevent him from being here.

If I may, I will turn the Minister’s mind back to 15 February 1996, when the Sea Empress went aground off St Ann’s head, spilling 72,000 tonnes of oil into our haven and on to our coastline. I remind him of the 200 km of damage to our coastline and the profound damage to our local community and tourism industry. I also remind him—as though I needed to—that the effect of that disaster is still being felt 15 years later.

Given our pride in our haven and the incidents that have occurred there over the years, there is a feeling of nervousness, which is made worse by the fact that the universal tug service has been withdrawn—some might add, with good reason. We are nervous about threats to the helicopter search and rescue service that has helped us all these years. That nervousness is the context of this debate and the background to the local community’s uprising in the arguments currently raging in west Wales.

There was a rally in Milford Haven last week, to which the hon. Member for Ynys Môn (Albert Owen) came. There were 17 political speakers; there are almost as many today. The town band was there, and the mayor came to put the case for the Milford Haven coastguard. A campaign has been run with great reasonableness by the Western Telegraph and the Milford Mercury, and a campaign by Save Milford Haven Coastguard has gathered many signatures.

Reasonable arguments are being put by reasonable people. I will not rehearse the arguments, but I stress the comments made about the Welsh language and flag up the need for healthy scepticism, technology reliability, risk assessments and back-up measures. I remind the Minister that when the 999 service was centralised not so many years ago, if someone rang 999 and asked for an ambulance to come to Newport, Pembrokeshire, it was not unusual for it to go to Newport, Gwent, 140 miles away. People are not particularly happy about that.

Real concerns are being expressed by real people making sensible arguments. History is relevant, especially in Milford Haven. There is confusion about whether the proposal is the MCA’s, the Government’s or, indeed, the last Government’s. The Minister’s visit last week to the Milford Haven area allayed many fears. It was a great success, and I urge him to do it again. Our community recognises the need for reform and changing technology and it recognises financial restraints, but I hope that as a consequence of his visit to Milford Haven, he will recognise that there is an obligation to balance those requirements with the hopes, expectations and fears of the community. They deserve nothing less.