Energy and Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

Thérèse Coffey Excerpts

Thursday 27th May 2010 Commons Chamber

[Dr Thérèse Coffey (Suffolk Coastal) (Con)]

Thank you for allowing me to make my maiden speech in this debate on the Gracious Speech, Mr Speaker. It is a particular pleasure to see you in your place, as I recall receiving public speaking training from you 20 years ago, so I hope that this speech shows that I have absorbed some of the wisdom that you imparted.

I wish to start by congratulating my predecessor on his achievements in the House on behalf of the people of Suffolk Coastal. John Gummer was, and is, one of the nicest, and most charming and immaculately turned-out former Members of this place. He had real intellect, capability, foresight and integrity, and he was an excellent debater in this House who commanded great respect. He will be remembered for his distinguished record in government—there are too many posts to list. However, not quite so often recalled is that he was chairman of the Conservative party at the time of the Brighton bombing, when he showed his cool under pressure, a quality that shone through in all his service as a Member.

John was ahead of others in recognising the challenge of the environment, although my noble Friend Baroness Thatcher, in her 1989 speech at the UN, also warned of the issues that we face today and will face in future. However, the environment was the main reason for John’s departure from the House, so that he could make progress on global environmental initiatives. I believe that it was his wife Penny who commented that he is the only MP to give up being a Member in order to spend less time with his family, rather than more.

John was a man of principle in the House who will be remembered fondly by his constituents for his many years of diligent service. I was often told on the doorstep that I had big shoes to fill—luckily I take a size 8. John championed many local issues that I will continue to fight on. For example, he fought for better cardiac services at Ipswich hospital, and he was a strong voice on estuary and coastal erosion, as well as on farming and so many more issues that affected his constituents. I will keep fighting on those same issues, although I will not be John Gummer mark 2, and nor will my hon. Friend the new Member for Ipswich (Ben Gummer).

I am very different from John, in that I am the first woman to represent a Suffolk seat. I am proud of that fact, which conveniently allows me to say a little more about my wonderful constituency of Suffolk Coastal. It is a truly pioneering place. Not only did we have the first woman mayor in the country, back in 1908 in Aldeburgh, in the shape of Dame Elizabeth Garrett Anderson—one of her pioneering achievements, in addition to those in the field of medicine—but radar was developed at Bawdsey. Indeed, the first text message was sent from Martlesham, where also fibre optics were developed by BT.

I hope that hon. Members will indulge me if I take them on a quick tour of my constituency. There are more than 100 parishes—hon. Members will be pleased to know that I am not going to name them all. They are special places, starting at the very top with Henver with Hulstead and continuing right down the A12 to the edge of Ipswich and on to the tip at Felixstowe, the premier container port of the UK, with a variety of market towns such as Halesworth, Saxmundham, Leiston and Woodbridge in between. There are also many special villages, including Westleton, where I live.

There are so many wonderful places in my constituency that I have to boast about them. Indeed, I have been approached by green-eyed Members who have visited my constituency. I welcome you all, especially if you are going to spend money there. Indeed, there are current and former Opposition Members who have second homes there, and many bird-twitchers come to visit the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds’ world-renowned Minsmere reserve.

The defining feature of my constituency is its 74-mile coastline, with its delightful tourist hot spots of Aldeburgh and Southwold. However, the coastline—along with the estuaries—is really suffering from erosion, and I warn my hon. Friends on the Front Bench that I shall be fighting hard to change the policies at the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, which seems happy to allow parts of my constituency simply to wash away into the sea, and to allow its devolved agencies to spend tens of millions of pounds on consulting on how we can allow that to happen, rather than using the cash to shore up the defences. I am not trying to be Canute—I am not telling the waves to go back—but nor do I want to be the person who is happy just to throw up their hands in the air and surrender.

I shall be pursuing many other rural issues, including farming. Suffolk Coastal is well known for its pigs, poultry and potatoes—and many other vegetables. I shall also be pressing on key rural issues such as access to health services, fuel poverty—especially among those who depend on oil and liquefied petroleum gas—our post office network and, of course, broadband access.

My diverse constituency also contains our beloved nuclear power station at Sizewell. I hope that we shall have many more reactors there—certainly at least two— before the end of the decade. Several offshore wind farms are also being constructed, with more planned. Suffolk Coastal is ready to take the lead in the low-carbon economy, and I hope that our coast will be able to take on the new alias of the “Green Coast”. So I welcome measures in the Gracious Speech on the low-carbon economy and the green investment bank.

I am really pleased by the calibre and pedigree of our new Ministers. If I may be so bold, I should like to extend an especially warm welcome to the Under-Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, my hon. and real Friend the Member for Newbury (Richard Benyon) and the Minister of State, Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, my hon. and real Friend the Member for South East Cambridgeshire (Mr Paice). They are people who really understand and value the countryside, and my constituents have been crying out for that for the past 13 years. Indeed, I hope that my hon. Friends will visit my constituency soon, not only to see how wonderful it is but to see the challenges that we face. Sadly, houses in Thorpeness are losing their gardens as we speak.

The Gracious Speech offers an ambitious programme for our country. I, too, am ambitious for my constituents of Suffolk Coastal, and I hope to play my part as the Member for that constituency in delivering success for Suffolk Coastal and for Britain.