Part of the debate – in Westminster Hall at 9:57 am on 15 February 2006.
I congratulate Dr. Cable on having secured the debate. When I first knew that we were going to have a one-and-a-half-hour debate about such a small island with so few people, I was rather puzzled as to how we could justify it. However, some of the points made by the hon. Gentleman have made it very clear indeed why this is such an important issue and why it needs an airing in our Parliament.
The hon. Gentleman gave a good account of the situation in the island, but I want to mention one historical aspect that he omitted. The island was discovered by the Portuguese seafarer Joao da Nova Castelia in 1501, although the visit apparently went unrecorded, and was rediscovered on Ascension day two years later by Alphonse d'Albuquerque, who gave the island its name. That is why it is called Ascension Island.
Ascension is an island of great strategic importance to our country. In effect, it is a permanent aircraft carrier in the mid-Atlantic. It must save this country a great deal of money because of where it is and how it is used. Therefore, as a tremendous asset, it needs to be discussed and we need to find out about the problems there.
I very much hope that the Minister will take on board the views that have been expressed. The hon. Member for Twickenham asked some important questions, particularly those involving the distortions between the answers he received from the Foreign Office on costs and what he was told by experts.
Today, I should be on Ascension Island en route to the Falkland Islands. Unfortunately, the trip had to be cancelled because of this evening's votes, but that gives me a good opportunity to talk about the island. Obviously, as I was going to go there, I have done some research on it.
I am extremely concerned about the lack of Government accountability—not just for Ascension, but for all our overseas territories. That is why I shall introduce, in March, a ten-minute Bill on our 14 overseas dependencies. It will refer to the administration of those dependencies and how they participate in terms of voting and accountability with us and the European Union, which also, ultimately, makes decisions on their behalf.
Although Ascension is owned by the UK, it does not have the same status as French overseas territories—the départements d'outre-mer, which are an intrinsic part of France. The French have realised the importance of bringing those overseas territories into the 21st century and giving them proper status. The people there have the same rights as the people of France and can send representatives to the French Parliament. Such accountability and democracy, which are so important in this modern age, are granted to French overseas territories but not to ours, it would appear.
I am extremely concerned by the first part of the briefing that I received from my researcher, which tells me that Ascension Island is a dependency in the overseas territory of St. Helena. There is an overall governor of the territory who is based on St. Helena—he is not even on the island—and represented on Ascension by an administrator. It seems that the island is run by an administrator about whom we in this building know little, and who has little accountability to us. I would like the Minister to consider us having a similar option to the French départements d'outre-mer.
As I said, Ascension is governed not only by the UK, but by the EU. We have seen that the EU plays a major part in people's lives in overseas territories. It interfered on a massive scale in how the 40 people on Pitcairn Island live. Although the EU can issue diktats to such places, the inhabitants have no representation in the EU. That is totally unacceptable in the 21st century.
We should be proud of those islands. I am always talking to children in my schools in Shrewsbury about the Great British empire and our imperial past. I am not ashamed of the history of our country—we should be proud of it, rather than try to cover it up—yet when I talk to children in Shrewsbury about the history of our country and about the empire and its legacy, and when I talk to adults, I find that they know little about overseas territories such as Ascension Island, or any of the other 14 islands.
I believe those territories to be an integral part of our country, but it seems as though Governments of all colours in recent times have somehow tried to airbrush them out of existence and not talked about their importance. We have to hold on to those territories for future generations. That can be done partly by sharing information about them with future generations and discussing them in the House of Commons. We must increase knowledge of and interest in them, and increase tourism, because only by going to see them will we be able to grasp how we have to work with them in the future.