Ascension Island

Part of the debate – in Westminster Hall at 10:06 am on 15 February 2006.

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Photo of Peter Bottomley Peter Bottomley Conservative, Worthing West 10:06, 15 February 2006

I was an expert on Ascension Island last autumn: I was in Ascension on a Monday and, later on, on a Sunday.

I think that the answer to the question posed by my hon. Friend Daniel Kawczynski is that the Americans find it useful to have a spare runway or landing strip for the shuttle in case it comes down in the wrong place. Ascension has a long runway.

Dr. Cable has done Ascension Island, the Government and the House a service by raising this topic. This is one occasion on which I would have preferred the Minister to speak second in the debate, so that the rest of us could contribute having heard what the Government have to say. A number of issues have come forward. The Minister has had some good material, and obviously has some more now. However, the rest of us would have been able to speak with greater advantage had we heard what he has to say.

I should declare an interest of sorts, as my grandfather was in the Colonial Office and my father was in the Commonwealth relations office of the Foreign Office, so, on the whole, I take the view that what the Department behind the Minister says and does are normally wise and often well considered. If that has changed, it is for Ministers to explain why, because it is they who take the decisions.

I went to Ascension on the way to the Falklands, which are one of the real reasons for the investment in Ascension, rather than, in particular, those who are resident there, whether temporary or more than temporary. The investment is made because Ascension Island fulfils a function. When I went there, I got the impression that the question of islanders' rights is a live issue. If the Government feel the need to adapt their policy, to make it clearer or to reverse it, that ought to be done in the open. Decisions are normally better if they are announced in the open and discussed retrospectively, but not prospectively. It will be interesting to hear whether the hon. Member for Twickenham is right that an American security assessment is leading to difficulty. I am not sure that that is necessarily the explanation, but when we hear from the Minister we will know better.

For those who have not yet been to Ascension Island, the greatest interest, besides the runway and the turtles, is the mountain, which is the wrong way up, so to speak. The tropics are at the top, eucalyptus trees are in the middle and there is nothing but volcanic rock at the bottom. It is an intriguing part of nature.

Having said that it would be better if we could have listened to the Minister first, I shall let him explain what the policy is and whether it has changed.