Andrew Pelling (Croydon Central, Conservative)

Thank you, Madam Deputy Speaker, for allowing me to make my maiden speech.

It is a great privilege to follow Keith Vaz with all his expertise on European matters. I shall stick more carefully to the parameters of a maiden speech. One of my illustrious predecessors, the former Speaker Jack Weatherill, once said:

"A good speech will not be remembered; a bad speech will not be forgotten—or forgiven."

I hope that the speech that I deliver this afternoon will be speedily forgotten.

Certainly, one thing that I do not forget is just how conscientious Jack Weatherill was as a Member of Parliament. I remember being summoned to the Speaker's House when I was chairman of the education committee in Croydon, to negotiate with people who were unhappy about a new city technology college that was to be introduced in the London borough of Croydon. It was certainly Jack's style to bring people together, and he was most conscientious in pursuing constituents' concerns and always writing back, in green ink, with a personal note. That is the style of constituency Member to which I would like to aspire.

I am sure, however, that I have made more mistakes in the House in a few weeks than Jack ever would have made. The conviviality and friendliness of the House, however, ensures that such mistakes are easily forgiven. As a new Member of Parliament, I have been most impressed that the House's supposed reputation for not welcoming new Members is entirely untrue.

The way in which Officers of the House have inducted new Members has impressed me a great deal. I learned that it is important to be careful about where one goes and what one says. During one of the induction procedures in which we were shown around the House, and shown how Members put marks on the back of their seats in the Chamber to reserve a seat at Prayers, I made the mistake of referring to Germans and towels. Unfortunately, another Member's partner happened to say, in a Germanic accent, "What is this about Germans and towels?"

It will also disturb the Whips Office to hear that I found myself sitting in a hot desk area reserved for Labour Members. Only when I heard a large number of Scottish accents, and reflected that there were probably not many Conservative Members elected to the House who had Scottish accents, did I realise that I was in a Labour party room.

Before I talk about Croydon, I would like to refer to my predecessor, Geraint Davies, who was both a diligent local councillor and Member of Parliament for Croydon, Central. He took a particular interest in the provision of healthy food for school children and the damage to our local environment, including the loss of many birds, which is an important issue in our locality. Obviously, I am delighted to be elected to the House, albeit with a majority of only 75 votes. I am sure, however, that that is mirrored by the disquiet and upset that Geraint must face, having lost by only 75 votes. I wish him the very best in his future career, and no doubt he will return to the House—not at my expense, I hope. Croydon has a history of close election results. John Moore had a majority of 164 votes, and Mr. Winnick, back in 1966, had a majority in Croydon, South of just 81 votes.

It is a great privilege to represent the town in which one was raised and educated. I am a councillor of 23 years' standing in Croydon, and know very well how important the expansion of the European Union is to Croydon in terms of the businesses pursued. Businesses have been particularly keen to look for opportunities in the Czech republic and Poland, and Croydon already has a substantial Polish community. It is important that Europe is a free trading community, with Nestlé having its headquarters in Croydon.

It is also important that Croydon as a town has looked out to other European cities that are at the edge of metropolitan communities—so-called edge cities—to try to share experiences. Towns such as Croydon, which have seen significant changes, not necessarily to our advantage, in our social, demographic make-up, face many challenges in terms of serving the needs of our community.

Also with a European theme, it is fair to say that we welcome to our town many eastern Europeans from beyond European Union borders. I was very pleased when I attended a recent Turkish-Kurdish event to find many from those communities, when they welcomed me to speak, chanting, "Croydon! Croydon!". No one had ever chanted "Croydon! Croydon!" like that before, but it is a sign of how migrants to Croydon have identified very quickly and positively with that community. It is important, I feel, to reach out to all communities, and I am so pleased that the al-Khair school, which is based in Croydon, Central, has also been successful. A real example of a great success from Croydon and a way that one can prove it is important to welcome migrants to our shores is the story of Katie Melua, who came from Georgia and was educated in Croydon at the BRIT school.

There are many businesses—28,000 in all—in Croydon, which reach out across Europe and seek to export their services and products, but what is important to them is how we can reach and transport ourselves around a congested town. Thus, it is very good news that Croydon is likely to be connected to the London underground's East London line and possible that the successful Croydon tram link will be extended to Crystal Palace. Also, in the constituency of my hon. Friend Richard Ottaway, a bypass is being built around Coulsdon. I am grateful to my hon. Friend for supporting the home team by being here with me this afternoon.

Croydon is also an important retail centre. Indeed, its retail centre dates back to the Surrey street market founded in the 13th century, although people can shop until they drop at many other places, such as the Whitgift centre, the Drummond centre and the new Centrale centre. But Croydon is not just retail heaven. Indeed, we compete with other important centres when it comes to culture. The creation of the Croydon Film Commission—which competes with Prague for sites for films and, in particular, adverts—is important because we can provide not only 1960s brutalist chic through our skyscrapers, but many attractive heritage items and open spaces.

Croydon's name comes from a Saxon word meaning saffron valley or, perhaps less flatteringly, crooked valley. One of our many open spaces was promoted by James I in terms of starting racing in Croydon in the Ashburton area, but unfortunately the Croydon race course was closed in the late 19th century by a mayor of Croydon because of all the undesirables who came to it. I guess the modern equivalent is the many undesirables who frequent the centre of Croydon while using our night-time economy.

Another open space in Croydon was Fairfield, which is now the site of the important Fairfield halls. Many people have been there to see many good performers, but a particularly important musician who is an export of Croydon is David Bowie. We have other important exports, such as David Prowse, who played Darth Vader in "Star Wars", and Derren Brown, the famous mind-reading TV star.

I doubt very much, Madam Deputy Leader, whether—I am sorry, Madam Deputy Speaker. My local government background has leaked out. I doubt very much whether I will be able to display such persuasive, mind-reading skills in the House, but I very much hope that I will be persuasive to some extent on behalf of my constituents in Croydon and put Croydon first.

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