00:00measures in the King's Speech start to spread wealth, growth and opportunity to every corner
00:06of this United Kingdom, including the people of Newton Aycliffe and Spennymoor.
00:13I call Gregory Ostaffer to make his maiden speech.
00:17Thank you very much, Mr Deputy Speaker, and I want to congratulate the honourable Member for
00:22Newton Aycliffe and Spennymoor on his maiden speech. We didn't cross over at university,
00:28but mutual friends tell me that he was an excellent President of the Oxford Student Union,
00:34and we can tell that his debating skills were honed there, and we saw that in evidence this
00:38evening. I want to express my gratitude to the people of the new Farnham and Borden constituency
00:44for placing their trust in me and for allowing me the honour to represent them here in Parliament.
00:50I feel like giving a maiden speech is a bit like giving a best man's speech at a wedding,
00:55surrounded by disapproving elderly relatives who are going to hang on you everywhere,
01:01but I assure you, Mr Deputy Speaker, none of the jokes that I made at any best man's speeches I've
01:06done before will be given in this House, especially as I know that my mother-in-law is watching on
01:10the Parliament channel. I want to thank my family, especially my wife Caroline and my daughters
01:15Susanna and Lucy, who have put up with me a lot over the last year, for their patience and support,
01:21and to my parents James and Theresa. Other hon. Members I know have noted that they are not the
01:27first people in their family to be Members of Parliament. I'm not even the first sibling to
01:33be a Member of Parliament, and so I want to pay tribute to my brother Alexander, who served the
01:38people of the Rother Valley constituency so diligently in the last Parliament. It's also
01:45apparently customary to express gratitude to my predecessors in the seat—a sort of small
01:51political obituary, as it were. Fortunately, both my immediate predecessors, the right hon. Member
01:57for Godalming and Ash, and the right hon. Member for East Hampshire, are still, as you can see,
02:01very much in their political prime. Nonetheless, I want to thank them for their generous support
02:07and advice since I was selected. They both achieved amazing things for the constituents
02:13that I have inherited from them. Campaigning was a sobering affair when I was told on the doorstep,
02:18oh, we do like Jeremy, or Damien did such wonderful stuff for us, or you have very big
02:24shoes to fill. To rub salt into the wound, the week before the election, the local paper
02:31ran a story on how much the people of Hazlemere would miss the shadow Chancellor.
02:37Believe me, I know my place. Speaking of predecessors, the hon. Member for East
02:42Hampshire's predecessor, Lord Arbuthnot, should be praised for his sterling work
02:48on the Horizon scandal and for bringing justice to the sub-postmasters so cruelly affected.
02:54I still hope that those responsible, by act or omission, are brought to justice.
03:00The newly created Farnham and Borden constituency is a cross-Surrey and Hampshire county constituency,
03:07making the life of a new Member of Parliament even more complex than it already is.
03:12More than that, the name, while referencing the two largest towns in each county,
03:17ignores the other towns of Hazlemere and Liphook, and the many villages that range
03:22between the larger population centres. Many argued for, and I supported, a less specific
03:28but more all-encompassing name for this constituency, such as the Wey Valley,
03:33taking its name from the beautiful river Wey that runs through it. But they are clearly not
03:39romantics in the Boundary Commission, so Farnham and Borden stuck. The only saving grace is that
03:45its initials spell FAB, which sums up the area that I represent. This FAB constituency ranges
03:52from Farnham in the north to Hazlemere and Liphook in the south, Whitehill and Borden in the west,
03:58and the western villages of Surrey, such as Tilford, in the east. Bookended by the north
04:03and south downs, it is an area of outstanding beauty, with thriving market towns, pleasant
04:09villages and a thriving sports and arts scene, including the prestigious University for the
04:14Creative Arts. It also has a significant military connection, most obviously in Borden,
04:20which was home to the Royal Electrical and Mechanical Engineers until 2015, and of the
04:25Longmore Ranges, where Ukrainian troops are currently being trained. Military history is
04:30everywhere, from Amesbury School in Hazlemere and Hindhead, where Montgomery lived during the war,
04:35to the Canadian War Graves and Memorial in Liphook, and the site of the first ever two-minute
04:41silence in this country on Castle Street in Farnham. The residents of this new constituency
04:47are ever thankful for the role our armed forces have played in keeping us safe.
04:52From Arthur Conan Doyle to Johnny Wilkinson, King John to Flora Thompson, Graham Thorpe to the
04:58hon. Member for Boston and Skegness, heroes and villains have been born, lived, worked or played
05:06in this fabulous constituency. But it is not the beautiful scenery, the historical gems or the
05:12famous people that make this constituency the best in the country. It is not even the fact that my
05:18grandparents ran Stafford's Sweet Shop in Hazlemere for many years, and what little boy would not want
05:24grandparents who ran a sweet shop? It is in fact the current residents, businesses and community
05:30spirit that makes FAB special and a joy to represent. Every day there are local events,
05:37charitable occasions and community festivities to get involved with. Indeed, I doubt anywhere
05:43else in this country can rival the number of duck races that we have in the area.
05:48Now, following this cook's tour of the constituency, one might be forgiven for thinking that there are
05:54no issues to solve at Home County's Garden of Eden. It cannot be denied that there are many
06:02areas of significant affluence, but it should not be concealed that there are areas of high
06:07deprivation, and I will champion their improvement. The constituency's location is both a benefit and
06:14a curse. Within easy commuting distance of London, it provides a rural haven for those who wish to
06:20live outside but work in the city, but that also makes it rich pickings for housing developers
06:26who look for any open space, green or otherwise, to build on. I am not against housing development.
06:33We need homes for our children and our grandchildren, but we need the right homes
06:37in the right places, with the right tenure mix and with the supporting infrastructure.
06:42Conservative-run East Hampshire Council has done everything it can to persuade the new Government
06:48to modify its housing targets to make them more appropriate for our area,
06:52including writing to the Deputy Prime Minister. I hope that she will respond positively to that
06:57letter. Indeed, if there is one issue that unites the whole of the new Farnham and Borden constituency,
07:02it is that infrastructure has not kept pace with development. This is particularly acute in Borden,
07:10where thousands of houses are going up without the supporting infrastructure.
07:13The GP surgeries, the NHS dentists, the schools, the roads and the leisure centres
07:18all need upgrading and expanding rapidly to meet that housing growth. We must not build more houses
07:25until infrastructure catches up, otherwise we will be left with housing estates devoid of services,
07:31security and society. I am deeply concerned about the new Government's plans on house building.
07:37Labour's changes to planning, imposing top-down targets and removing the rights of local people
07:43to have their say on developments is a retrograde step and has been met with anger from my
07:48constituents and resolute opposition from me. I have mentioned the need for health services in
07:55our area. Having spent most of my career in healthcare, lastly working for seven years in
08:00the NHS, improving clinical services and patient outcomes, I know that both locally and nationally
08:07things need to change in the NHS. We need to have a grown-up and honest discussion with the public
08:14about how we are going to deliver, provide and fund the NHS and social care going forward.
08:20For an ageing population with increasing healthcare needs and diminishing birth rates,
08:24i.e. the people who are going to pay for the NHS, we need a cross-party discussion that brings all
08:30parties together to make the long-term decisions on how we proceed with health and social care
08:35in this country. If I achieve nothing else in this time while I am here, starting this
08:40conversation and hopefully progressing it fruitfully will be something to hope for.
08:44But, as a traditional, common-sense Conservative, I believe you cannot pay for health and social care
08:52unless you have a strong economy. Despite a global pandemic, a war in the east of Europe,
08:59instability in the middle east and, regardless of what the Government are trying to paint
09:04in their press releases, the most recent statistics show that the economy is turning
09:08round and is on an upward trajectory. I will oppose any measures by this Government,
09:13including the misguided nationalisation of industry and the socialist labour rules,
09:18which I believe will hamper or reverse that trend. Equally important is to safeguard ourselves from
09:24external threats. The rise of resurgent Russia, China and North Korea is something we should
09:30all be concerned about. I do not believe it is hyperbole to say that we are in a pre-war era
09:36and we need to ensure that our borders, skies and infrastructure, both physical and digital,
09:42are safe from threats. That is why I absolutely believe that we should move to 2.5% of GDP spent
09:47on defence immediately and, indeed, increase that to 3% when practical. In short, we must
09:53protect our economy, healthcare and national security to ensure the prosperity and safety
09:59of our country. Mindful that maiden speeches are not meant to be controversial, I shall leave it
10:05there and return briefly to the subject of this fab constituency. In 1668, Samuel Pepys recorded
10:13that the people of Liphook were good, honest people. Given his own morals and motivations,
10:20I am not sure whether he meant this as a compliment, but I can assure the House that
10:24it is as true now as it was then for the residents of Farnham, Borden, Hazemere, Liphook and our
10:29surrounding villages. I pledge to be a good, honest servant of them in this place.
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