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| Lawrie Quinn | Parliamentary Commission |
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Parliamentary Commission |
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As the Member of Parliament for this amazing part of the United Kingdom I am envied by my colleagues on all sides of both Houses of Parliament and with thanks to the Boundary Commission have never had any need to describe the geographical location, historic legacy or importance in literature to most Members of Parliament. I hope along with the Archbishop of York, the Bishop of Whitby and the widescale support of local people to conclude my campaign to achieve UNESCO World Heritage status for Whitby before the effects of the this Review of Parliamentary boundaries comes into effect.
Any person chosen to represent the Yorkshire Coast is indeed fortunate indeed and should know that the essence of the Constituency, the start and finish is the sea. The North Sea and these historic coastal communities are linked through historic endeavour, the necessities of survival in the local economy and give a practical outlook to the challenges of life. The people are straight talking, typically Yorkshire folk whose affairs are very much conducted in the oral tradition. My constituents expect to see their MP in their neighbourhood, want to make sure their MP understands their point of view about the affairs of the Nation and the World, wants their opinions reflected in the Palace of Westminster and influence in Whitehall.
As their MP since May 1997 I have lived, worked with and supported my communities through the tragedy of foot and mouth disease, the continued decline of the white seafish industry in the ports of Whitby and Scarborough, the threat to 1 in 10 of the local workforce at the Plaxton's bus and coach factory in Eastfield , Scarborough and continue to argue for improvements to transport links to one of England's most peripheral constituencies.
Within the towns of Whitby and Scarborough we see some the poorest wards within the whole of the Region, indeed I was able to make the successful case for European Objective 2 moneys to support the much needed revitalisation of our local economies, urban environments and much need community support projects.
Sir, after this "state of the nation" address you will be asking yourself why am I presenting my oral evidence to you today.
My reasons for coming to the Commissions local enquiry today I hope are give away by my core belief in the sense of community I see every day in the people I am so proud and lucky to represent in Parliament. If the Commissions rules allowed I would be making the case for the Parliamentary constituency to sit as co-terminus with the local government boundary for the County Borough of Scarborough. This obviously would be foolish on the part of even the hardest working Parliamentarian however my experiences of almost six years representing the Yorkshire Coast bring me to the simple conclusion....the Engineer's conclusion that so far the boundary review is concerned the Commissions started at the wrong end of the map of North Yorkshire. Any Geographer, physical or human or Historian will; point to four areas with the County as having the essence of what North Yorkshire is all about. The Commission appears to have taken a West to East route through the Dales, the Vale of York, the Moors and finally to North Sea Coast. I would ask you Sir to take a look from East to West...if you will follow the Sun starting with Yorkshire Coast and given some reflection on the communities living by the edge of the North Sea.
Sir, I have found or should I say been found by the people of Filey and Hertford electoral divisions to be the easiest Member of Parliament to get hold of....Indeed the local media, the Scarborough Evening News and Yorkshire Coast Radio covering these areas have a habit of promoting myself as Scarborough's Member......my office has to keep Mr Greenway's details available at all times to re-route phone callers from these Divisions to their elected Member.....some members of the public become hostile and indeed abusive to myself and my staff once presented with the fact they live in the current Ryedale and their MP is located in Malton. I only ask that you Sir reflect on the additional confusions likely to be caused by a re-configured Ryedale Parliamentary constituency with the significant community located at Thirsk over 50 miles away from the most southern part of the North Yorkshire Coast. Indeed the natural and quickest transport routes from Filey to Thirsk pass through those inland parts of my constituency or via York.
The proposals in the name of the Regional Labour Party and my own Scarborough and Whitby Constituency Labour Party and other CLPs across North Yorkshire and York which I fully support attempt therefore to recognise the realities of the geography of England's largest county, to draw together the communities of the Yorkshire Coast, fully recognising principle transport routes and the similar aspirations of those communities and recognising the unique effects of the North Yorkshire Moors National Park who so ably managing this unique and internationally famous landscape and currently contains the Electoral Divisions of Danby, Derwent and Eskdale.
I hope the Inspector will be able to travel to my constituency and the Yorkshire Coast reflect on its magnificence and recognise the logic of the Labour Party's proposals thereby giving the totality of the North Yorkshire Coast the strongest voice possible for the people of Scarborough, Filey and Whitby.
Briefly Sir I should like to turn to matters closer to this Guildhall. Yesterday on a brief intervention on Mr Mallett I introduced my 19 year experience of involvement with the City of York. You will recall I highlighted my own involvement leading the Labour Party's submission to the Banham Inquiry which led to the establishment of the Unitary City of York and the revised North Yorkshire County Council. Unlike Mr Mallett I firmly belief that the arguments which led to the current construct of the new unitary area had little to do with natural community and far more to ...as he put it ensuring there was a more favourable pitch for short term party political advantage....the communities saw through the game Mr Mallett and his Conservative colleagues were trying to play then and my newer perspective of strong communities at the Yorkshire Coast led to my conclusion that the Commission's proposals correctly reflect the organic growth of this equally fine ancient community which owes so much of its history from the visitors from Scandinavia...the Saxons and Vikings who established the communities I'm honoured to serve at the Coast.
In conclusion Sir I have heard much talk about "doughnuts" in the regional media and indeed yesterday afternoon...could I offer the simple advise to the Inspector that doughnuts are much happier in New York City and a more favourable description of the proposals for York whole be the POLO....that magnificent piece of confectionery born in this City at the world famous Haxby Road Rowntree's factory?
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