Oral Answers to Questions
Ellie Chowns Excerpts(1 day, 14 hours ago)
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Ian Murray
The shared rural network programme has been a huge success, but as I said in answer to the initial question of the right hon. Member for Skipton and Ripon (Sir Julian Smith), there are still notspots and still some infrastructure problems across the country. We are working closely with the mobile networks to ensure that we can resolve those issues. New technology is coming forward all the time, including that direct-to-device satellite technology. I would be happy to meet my hon. Friend to go through the specific issues in his constituency and region to ensure that we have everything covered.
Dr Ellie Chowns (North Herefordshire) (Green)
A constituent of mine in her 80s living in a village with no mobile signal has contacted me to share her anxieties about the impending digital switchover. She has done everything asked of her to prepare and has a battery back-up, but she has been told that no fall alarm will work outside her house. She is worried that if there is a power cut that lasts longer than an hour, she will have no way of calling for help. As she put it to me, would it not be sensible to ensure that there was adequate mobile reception everywhere before the digital switchover? Does the Minister recognise these concerns and what will he do to address them?
Ian Murray
We have received correspondence on the kind of issues that the hon. Lady raises, and I am happy to meet her directly to go through her constituent’s particular concerns. We have to ensure that nobody is left behind when we are doing any kind of switchover from older to new technologies. We need to ensure in particular that vulnerable customers are looked after. We are working closely with the mobile networks to ensure that that happens and with the broadband providers to ensure that they can get to every part of the country as well.
Sir David Attenborough: Permanent National Monument
Ellie Chowns Excerpts(5 months ago)
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Johanna Baxter
I absolutely agree with my hon. Friend. If there is to be a monument, it should be by a British sculptor. We are filled with pride in Sir David every day.
He took his message even further in 2021, when he addressed the UN Security Council. Sir David reframed the climate crisis entirely, moving it from a scientific debate to an existential security threat. He warned the council that
“climate change is the biggest threat”
to global security
“that modern humans have ever faced.”
He told the council that if the natural systems that support us collapse, everything we take for granted—food and water security, social stability and international peace—will collapse with them. He challenged the most powerful leaders on earth to recognise that the map of the world is being rewritten by our own carbon emissions. Speaking at COP26 in Glasgow, he gave a stark warning on climate change and asked the haunting question:
“Is this how our story is due to end? A tale of the smartest species doomed by that all too human characteristic of failing to see the bigger picture in pursuit of short term goals.”
Dr Ellie Chowns (North Herefordshire) (Green)
The hon. Member is making a brilliant speech in honour of a fantastic advocate for the natural world. I have had emails from constituents about him, and I would like to share one that I received this morning, which says:
“Sir David is a titan of broadcasting and has educated, amazed and enthralled generations for decades.”
The point she is making is key: he has been an advocate not just for the natural world, but for our responsibilities to tackle the huge challenge of climate change. Sir David clearly deservers some sort of memorial—perhaps a living memorial. I thank the hon. Member for securing this tribute to him, and hope that we all agree that he deserves all the recognition and respect that we can give him.
Johanna Baxter
I thank the hon. Member for those words. A living monument is a fantastic idea and Sir David certainly deserves our recognition and thanks. He has taught us that humanity’s greatness is found when we act as caretakers to our environment rather than consumers of it. He showed us that true leadership lies in what we choose to protect, understand and preserve. Yet when facing a cost of living crisis, the easy temptation for some is to fall back on the status quo and focus narrowly on drilling our natural resources. There is a danger in ignoring the warnings he delivered on the global stage and here on our doorstep.
Victory in Europe and Victory over Japan: 80th Anniversary
Ellie Chowns Excerpts(1 year, 6 months ago)
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Ellie Chowns (North Herefordshire) (Green)
It is an honour to speak in this debate commemorating VE Day, which is of great significance to many in my constituency, where a significant proportion of the population are veterans or from military families.
The Royal British Legion has encouraged us to ensure that the stories of veterans are at the centre of our commemoration events this week, so I would like to share the story of my grandfather, James Paterson, who was a navigator on a Stirling bomber. On 16 August 1943, his plane was shot down in south-east France. Only two of the crew of seven survived—my grandfather was one of them. He was rescued by the Resistance in the area of Ambérieu and was saved by three families, who hid him at great personal risk—in the town, and in the forest and the hills nearby. Eventually, four months later, he was smuggled out, over the Pyrenees, to safety.
Without the bravery of those families, my mother would never have been born and I would not be here today. I pay a special tribute to Marius and Jeanne Lapierre, who hid my grandfather in their bakery. In 2014, my father’s research reconnected my family with the Lapierres and we have since remained in contact. Last year, I was honoured to visit Monique Lapierre—one of the daughters of the family, after whom my aunt is named—who has since sadly died.
As we remember this week the bravery of all those, like my grandfather, who fought in the armed forces for freedom in Europe, let us also remember the bravery—often unsung—of those, like the Lapierres, who fought and resisted in so many different ways at great personal risk to themselves and their children, to save the lives of strangers. Let us all hope that we would do the same. As we challenge the forces of the far right, and as we recognise and remember the resistance 80 years ago of those who made the ultimate sacrifice to defend Europe against Nazism, let the memory of all those who showed such bravery never be forgotten.