Mr Alistair Burt (Bury North)

I thank you, Mr. Deputy Speaker, for calling me to make my maiden speech on a topic that is vital not just to the House, but to the country.

The new constituency of Bury, North which I represent is compact, with a near-optimum electorate, in the eyes of the Boundary Commission, of about 66,960. Its compactness does not detract from its varied nature. From the fringes of the moors in the north to the suburban belt in the south, it is a constituency with everything. It is a traditional centre for textiles, engineering and the paper industry. It has diversified over the years so as not to rely over-much on any one of them.

We manufacture chemicals, paint and toffee. I am proud that my own slight but genuine industrial experience was gained in the town's toffee works, sweating over a hot cauldron during a summer not dissimilar to this, learning many things on the shop floor which have stood me in good stead. I shall no doubt, Mr. Deputy Speaker, seek to catch your eye in the future to talk about the town's industries and the problems facing the town.

We have small farms and green open spaces. Nowhere else so pleasantly destroys the myth of Lancashire's "dark, satanic mills". It is a constituency of beauty and peace. If I speak of it in over-affectionate terms, I hope it is realised that that is because I was bred and raised there. It is a fortunate man who can represent his home town. I am proud to be a Bury man in Parliament.

A new constituency is not new. It does not spring fully-fledged with no history. It is born of other constituencies. There are parts of two former constituencies in Bury, North. The first is Ramsbottom, to many the jewel of the constituency, with its independence and pride. I inherited it from my hon. Friend the Member for Rossendale and Darwen (Mr. Trippier). Much satisfaction was felt in the town by his appointment to the Government. He leaves me a hard task to follow and I express the town's thanks for his work. His new constituents are most fortunate to have him.

The second, and much larger part of Bury, North, is from the old Bury and Radcliffe constituency. There is sorrow at the loss of that name from Parliament. There is also regret on all sides in Bury at the loss from the House of Mr. Frank White, who served as a fine constituency Member for nine years.

It is perhaps rare for a new Member to express genuine sadness for a Member of the Opposition whom he has beaten. I am aware from the comments made in all parts of the House that Frank White was as popular and respected here as he was in Bury and Radcliffe. I am not ashamed to admit feeling such sadness. Frank White fought an honourable and decent campaign. The finest tribute that I can pay him is to continue his constituency and industrial work and follow his keen Christian witness.

If any one issue assisted me immeasurably in defeating Frank White, it was defence. The respective attitudes of the Government and the Opposition parties are reflected in the Estimates and the debate upon them. My hon. Friend the Member for Adlershot (Mr. Critchley) suggested that Mr. Ken Livingstone was a figment of Conservative Central Office imagination. There were times when most of us on the Conservative Benches thought that the entire Labour party policy on defence was also a figment of our fevered imaginations and those of Saatchi and Saatchi. Fighting the Labour party on defence is not so much a case of looking for Achilles heel as of wandering into Achilles' tent and finding him busily butchering himself.

The people have a deep-rooted understanding of the need for defence. There is substantial support for the central core of these Estimates, the maintenance of a spending programme designed to equip our forces with the most modern equipment and a demonstration of our support for our NATO allies through commitments. NATO is a collection of free nations. That is its greatest strength, but also its greatest weakness. Should one partner lose confidence in its role and leave or minimise its commitment, as it must remain entitled to do, the alliance could collapse. It is this weakness that is played upon by our enemies. Arguments directed to reducing our will to defend ourselves and to ridiculing our capacity to do so are designed to hasten the day when we say no to our allies. On that day will begin to crumble the walls of the NATO alliance that have safeguarded the peace in Europe for nigh on 40 years.

I do not suggest that those who are sincerely concerned with disarmament and arms spending throughout the world necessarily desire the consequences of such action. However, I wish that occasionally they would see their policies through and look at the lessons of history for the likely result of their views. The clearest lesson of history is that weapons do not begin wars—rations do. Nations attack when they see an opportunity for success, not failure. The easiest way to encourage war is to show disinclination to defend and offer a dance of success to the enemy. These Estimates are welcome because they demonstrate clearly our commitment to NATO, our understanding of the balance of peace and our concern with security and defence.

What of the cost, about which the hon. Member for Sheffield, Hillsborough (Mr. Flannery) spoke? The cost of defence is high, but those who compare the cost of our spending on defence with that on social services are making the wrong comparisons. Do not make that comparison, but compare the cost of defending the peace with that of the cost of war. The cost of peace may be high, but the cost of war would be catastrophic.

It seems that, on the Labour Benches, those words are no longer falling on deaf ears. If we are to believe our morning newspapers, those who contest the leadership of the Labour party are busily examining their naval estimates for a view on defence policy. The right hon. Member for Birmingham, Sparkbrook (Mr. Hattersley) has gone so far as to ask that the party learn the opinions of ordinary people on defence and disarmament, although it appears that others, such as the hon. Member for Houghton and Washington (Mr. Boyes) do not take much heed.

The message is clear from the Conservative Benches. The Government already have the ear of the people on defence and disarmament. While the people are faced by an enemy determined to add immeasurably to its superiority in conventional and nuclear arms, the people will support these defence Estimates and the policy that they suggest.

I wish to suggest a way for the Government not only to have the ear of the people but to capture their heart as well. I speak with feeling here for the ycung people of my constituency, for I am the youngest Member ever to represent any part of Bury, North. We have, we hope, full and useful lives to lead, and I mean no d:srespect as I look round the House. We have our future before us and we are fighting for it. We seek peace as keenly as the hon. Member for Hillsborough, but he is misguided when he discusses unilateral disarmament as he does. His suggestion that in some way our example in unilateral disarmament will be followed is, alas, the fairy tale to which he referred. Our example would do nothing.

The hon. Gentleman suggested that merely because we have these weapons it is somehow the democratic right of other nations to have them as well. Perhaps he could explain to us how, if we renounce our weapons, it would suddenly not become the democratic right of other nations to have those weapons, and how we could force those other nations no longer to possess those weapons or to disarm. The fallacy is that in some way our example could do some good. The use of our example in unilateral disarmament has been shown before, when we gave up chemical weapons, but were not followed by the Soviet Union. Our unilateral nuclear disarmament would not be followed by the Soviet Union either.

While young people in my constituency and the country seek a vision for the future, we turn to this Government for extra hope. I ask the Government to see in the concern of young people for disarmament an expression of concern for the vision of the future that we want. While we accept that the price of peace is to be ever prepared for the war that we shall never start, while we accept that defence is bought only dearly, we also say that for those who spend much on defence there is a consequent responsibility to do much for peace.

It is the most earnest desire expressed by my constituents that while they understand and support the need for defence and spending on it, they also desire that we apply ourselves as vigorously as we can to our aim of using our strength to promote, encourage and advance the concept of the balanced reduction of all arms and all arms spending.

There has surely never been a better time than this for all nations to begin that process, as nations' economies throughout the world groan under the excessive demands of arms spending, and especially as the Soviet Union faces economic collapse if it continues those policies of defence spending which make ours seem trivial.

We shall not negotiate from weakness, but our defence policy in the Estimates before us will ensure in time that our strength with our allies against the Soviet bloc will be such that we can begin to use that as the great basis for peace. Let us try not just to capture the minds and sound judgment of our people—we already have that. Let us begin our crusade to capture the emotions of the people. That is what it depends on. Let us appeal to their imagination and vision of the future. We can do so by devising a policy which on the one hand shows our determination to be strong and free and on the other offers the open hand of friendship and negotiation.

Our people want to see ahead to the success of the policies before us. They want to be shown how eventually the strength that is represented here will be used to reduce the arms collections of the world. We must crusade for a true peace, not based on the sincere but naive beliefs of unilateral disarmament, but on the sound basis: of the defence policy before us.

There is a saying that from those to whom much is given much is expected. Much is given to the Government in the way of cash for defence, and I am confident, as I am sure my hon. Friends are, that in turn we shall see much from the Government in the way of effort for true, genuine and permanent peace.

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