Ascension Island

Part of the debate – in Westminster Hall at 10:17 am on 15 February 2006.

Alert me about debates like this

Photo of Jeremy Browne Jeremy Browne Shadow Minister (Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs) 10:17, 15 February 2006

I am in an unusual position as I have never been to Ascension Island and I am in a room of people who are all great authorities on that remote part of the world. However, for anybody of my age—I am 35—Ascension evokes our upbringing, because it was such a dominant feature of the Falklands war and the preparation for that conflict.

I want first to pay tribute to my hon. Friend Dr. Cable, who is an example to us all. He manages to be an authoritative Treasury spokesman for our party, as well as a diligent and conscientious MP for his constituents, yet he still manages to have a global scope to his activities and to promote causes such as this. He has a versatility that, as an MP who has been here for only nine months, I can only wonder at and learn from.

The debate has been effective already: not only has it drawn the Minister to this Chamber and given hon. Members the opportunity to raise their concerns, but it has provoked a large public and media interest. Only yesterday, I turned on the "Today" programme to hear my hon. Friend discussing the subject, and The Daily Telegraph and others have covered it. That shows that one can create interest in a subject and a wider debate by securing Adjournment debates here. That should encourage us all.

We in the House should be concerned about individual liberty and the freedom of people to live their lives against a consistent backdrop of rules, without the state moving the goalposts in a way that makes it difficult or impossible for their lives to progress in the way they would like.

I have read information about the situation on Ascension Island and I can see that there are cases to be made against opening the island up. I understand that there are serious problems with securing enough water for the inhabitants and generating electricity in sufficient quantities. Furthermore, as my hon. Friend said, there may be issues involving liabilities for the Government. He cited caring and providing for people who are sick or have reached old age, but there are also considerable environmental issues. I am referring not to the issues alluded to by Mr. Lancaster, but to the impact on the island of dumping waste and similar practices. I can understand the Government being somewhat concerned about having an open-ended commitment to clean up and preserve the environment of the island.

That said, I understand that there are no substantial infrastructure-related reasons why the island should not be inhabited and function effectively with a modest population. Ultimately, the point is that the Government have shown a serious disregard for those based on Ascension Island, who were led to believe that it would be opened up for residency and who, in many cases, invested a large amount of money—perhaps their life savings—as well as time and emotional energy in trying to make a new future. The Foreign Office has shown—this is a modest way of putting it—poor judgment in not being as straight and consistent with the island's inhabitants as they deserve.

To resolve the situation, the Government have an opportunity either to try to push ahead with opening up the island and devote adequate resources to that task or, at the very least, to be straight with the islanders and offer them compensation and clarity on the way forward. I look forward to hearing the Minister's response to those challenges.