May 18 2005
Peter Soulsby (Leicester South, Lab)
I should like to begin my first speech in the House
with an apology to my hon. Friends. As the new Member
for Leicester, South, I can claim credit for being
the Labour gain on 5 May. I was also, however, the
candidate who did not win the by-election last July.
My thanks are therefore due to my many hon. Friends
who campaigned for me last year, and my apology goes
to them for being 10 months late in getting here.
My constituency has many strengths.
It contains most of Leicester's city centre, which
has a lively, thriving shopping centre and a unique
covered market. Leicester has an unbroken history
from Roman times: it was a major Roman centre, its
Norman castle hall is still partly standing, and it
has a beautiful mediaeval guildhall. It is a fine
city that experienced dramatic growth during the 19th
century, and we still benefit from that legacy today.
The city contains two excellent universities—Leicester
university and De Montfort university—which
contribute enormously to its well-being, its cultural
life and, particularly, its economic life.
The constituency of Leicester,
South is possibly unique in having four first-class
professional sports teams: Leicestershire cricket
club; Leicester City football club; the Leicester
Riders basketball club; and the Leicester Tigers rugby
club. While Leicester City football club might not
currently be in its proper place in the premiership,
we can console ourselves with the triumphs, or indeed
the near-triumphs, of the Tigers. We can also look
forward to a good summer for the county cricket club.
I firmly believe, however,
that the outstanding strength of my constituency is
the diversity of its communities. Every aspect of
Leicester's life has benefited from the families who
have made their home there over recent decades. Its
social life, its cultural life, its religious diversity,
its political life, its business and its economy have
all been enriched and transformed by those who have
made it their home over those decades. We can never
be complacent, but Leicester provides a model of a
community strengthened by and proud of its diversity.
I am privileged to have led
the city council in Leicester for more than 17 years,
and I am now privileged to have been entrusted by
the electors of Leicester, South to represent them
in this House. It is appropriate, in this debate on
foreign affairs and defence, to refer back to the
by-election last July. Other parties focused at the
time on the single issue of Iraq, and were quite successful
in converting anger over that issue into votes. At
the general election it was different. That is not
to say, however, that the many members of the electorate
who believed Iraq to be a mistake—indeed, who
were appalled at the blunder that it represented—have
changed their view. They have not, and neither have
I.
However, in Leicester, South
and elsewhere, the election was about the Government's
achievements and manifesto, and the alternatives to
those achievements and that manifesto. The electors
in Leicester, South are aware that the constituency
has benefited enormously from three highly successful
Sure Start schemes, which have transformed the life
chances of many children. They are also aware of the
extra police and community support officers who contribute
so much to community safety in the city. They are
also aware that antisocial behaviour legislation has
enabled communities to begin to reclaim their neighbourhoods
for the ordinary, decent people who live in them.
The electors of Leicester,
South are also aware of the transformation of the
city's public services that is taking place under
Labour. They are aware of the £700 million commitment
to transform Leicester's hospitals, particularly the
Leicester royal infirmary, which is in my constituency.
The new children's accident and emergency unit there
has already been built and opened, and it is paving
the way for the major transformation of that and the
other city hospitals.
I must, however, mention two
issues of concern that were brought to my attention
during the election campaign. The first was a specific
concern expressed by the parents of children in one
part of the constituency about the potential effect
of the proposed city academy on the other schools
in the neighbourhood. Although most people did not
express opposition to the academy, they frequently
expressed concern about the perceived lack of genuine
consultation and dialogue about the proposals, and
about the potential impact of the academy on the other
schools currently attended by their children.
The other, more general, concern
that I must mention came from Muslim constituents.
They are respectable, reasonable, sensible people
who, in recent times, have felt that their religion
has been grossly misrepresented and that their communities
have been demonised. Although they warmly welcome
the proposals to outlaw religious discrimination,
they none the less increasingly resent the way in
which they, their families and their friends have
been stopped, questioned and subjected to official
attention for no apparent reason other than the way
in which they were dressed or the fact that the men
had beards. They share the concern of many other constituents
in Leicester, South that the introduction of further
anti-terrorist legislation and the proposed introduction
of identity cards should take place only in ways that
will protect their civil liberties and their dignity.
I want to use this opportunity
to commit myself to playing a full part in the regeneration
of Leicester. I particularly want to ensure that the
very welcome moves, following the Lyons report, to
relocate Government Departments and agencies do not
miss the excellent advantages that Leicester provides
in terms of location and communications. For too long,
unaccountably, Leicester has lost out to the smaller
city of Nottingham somewhere to the north—a
city which I understand is somewhere near Rushcliffe.
I hope, along with my good right hon. and hon. Friends
the Members for Leicester, East (Keith Vaz) and for
Leicester, West (Patricia Hewitt), to help to ensure
that the balance is redressed for Leicester and that
we too have our share of Departments.
I want to pay my respects
to Parmjit Singh Gill, my immediate predecessor, who
was here for a brief 10 months. Although we taunted
him about it, it is indeed fortunate that Mr. Gill
remained a member of Leicester city council. He will,
at least until the next city council elections, have
an opportunity to use in that forum the experience
that he undoubtedly gained in the House, and I wish
him well.
I began with an apology,
and I shall end with an aspiration. I was proud to
be, for more than 30 years, a friend and sometime
agent of Jim Marshall. Jim, of course, represented
Leicester, South until his sudden death almost exactly
12 months ago. With a break in the mid-1980s, he had
served the constituency since 1974. He was a man of
principle, much loved, much admired and now sadly
missed by his constituents in Leicester, South and,
I know, by many Members here. My aspiration is to
be as effective a representative of Leicester, South
in the future as was my friend Jim Marshall in the
past.
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