Ascension Island

Part of the debate – in Westminster Hall at 10:13 am on 15 February 2006.

Alert me about debates like this

Photo of Bob Russell Bob Russell Opposition Whip (Commons), Shadow Minister (Defence) 10:13, 15 February 2006

I apologise for my late arrival, Mr. Bercow. I was involved with the launch organised by the all-party group on small shops.

In my role as chair of the all-party group on St. Helena—Ascension Island, of course, comes within the orbit of St. Helena—I congratulate the Government on all they did to restore full British citizenship to the citizens of the overseas territories, which include St. Helena and Ascension Island. I also congratulate them on the progress that they have made towards the establishment of an airstrip on the island of St. Helena. Of course, Wideawake airport on Ascension Island can take jumbo jets as well as TriStars when it is working, but like Mr. Lancaster, I have been marooned on Ascension Island because of the inability of the RAF to provide flights from the Falklands through to Brize Norton.

The island is indeed remarkable and the American presence is the dominant feature, but it is strategically important for this country as well. We know that because of what happened in the Falklands war and in the years that followed. The community on Ascension is predominantly made up of people from the island of St. Helena. I asked many of them whether they regard themselves as Ascension islanders or Saints from the island of St. Helena, and they still regard themselves as Saints.

The rights of abode of the people who live on Ascension Island are the important aspect of the debate, and the Government were going down the road to achieving them. Serious questions have to be asked. When the island is so obviously British and its citizens have had their full British citizenship restored by the Government, why do those people find themselves once again relegated and, in effect, second-class citizens? Although they retain the full British citizenship that has been granted them, they have been told that they cannot have rights of abode on the island.

Those of us who have visited the only real village on the island, Two Boats—I am not sure what happened to "One Boat"—know that that community is home. Many people have lived there for decades. Some youngsters have lived nowhere other than Ascension Island and the village of Two Boats. I think that, per head of population, more young males are members of the scouts than is the case anywhere else in the world. Nothing is more British than the scout movement.

The 1,000 or 2,000 people, or however many there are, on that British island have rightly had full citizenship restored. The Government are doing a good job, although they need to do more, to bring the mother island of St. Helena fully back into the British family. However, the Minister needs to explain why Ascension Island is being treated differently from everywhere else. In simple terms, will he explain whether that is just an aberration, or will the good moves that were being made up until recently be reinstated?