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EU referendum debate 24/10/2055

Adam Holloway

(Gravesham, Conservative)

I had no real background in politics when I was elected in 2005. I had been a soldier and a television reporter. In fact, I had never even been into the House of Commons Chamber.

A couple of days before the House sat for the first time after the election, I wandered into the Members’ Lobby and chatted to one of the security guards, who let me into the Chamber. It was dark, and I started to think about the historic things that had happened here. I thought of Winston Churchill leading Members out of the House to St Margaret’s church to give thanks for the end of the second world war. And then I asked myself, “Why are you thinking about yourself and how clever you are to have got here?” Actually, this was about the thousands of voters in Gravesend, Northfleet and the villages who had allowed me to overturn quite a healthy Labour majority and replace it with a pretty tiny Conservative one.

Did any of us imagine when we made our acceptance speeches at the counts that Members of Parliament would be slagged off to quite the degree that they are now? My mother does not like to tell people that I am a Member of Parliament, because of the response that she receives when she does.

Denis MacShane

(Rotherham, Labour)

Will the hon. Gentleman give way?

Adam Holloway

(Gravesham, Conservative)

I should love to.

Denis MacShane

(Rotherham, Labour)

Surely what the hon. Gentleman’s mother does not want to admit is that he is a Conservative Member of Parliament. That is the problem.

Adam Holloway

(Gravesham, Conservative)

It may have something to do with the fact that she lives in the north of Scotland.

This country developed and exported the simple idea that laws ought not to be made unless they were made by the people’s elected representatives, but it seems from some of the e-mails that I have been receiving over the last three days that some of our constituents are quite close to giving up on that notion. Why is that? We hear the reason every time we meet our constituents. “You are all the same,” they tell us. “You will say anything to get elected.” One of the things on which I have agreed with them over the past seven years is that we should have a referendum at some point, and, in my view, we need to completely rewire our relationship with Europe. We need to be in Europe, not run by Europe.

What we are taking about today is not just Britain’s relationship with the European Union, but the authority and legitimacy of this Chamber. During the last Parliament, my right hon. Friend the Prime Minister was one of the leaders of all three parties who expressed the view that we should have a referendum on Europe.

Mark Lazarowicz

(Edinburgh North and Leith, Labour)

Will the hon. Gentleman give way?

Adam Holloway

(Gravesham, Conservative)

I will not, actually.

The Deputy Prime Minister was even louder in his protestations. He said:

“The Liberal Democrats believe we should have a real vote on Europe—whether we should be in Europe or out… the public back our position by a margin of 2:1”.

I should say that the margin is about the same today. Those statements, and many more from the Front Benches, render irrelevant the arguments that we have heard today about whether this is the right moment for a referendum.

I am sure that if the Government had not liked today’s motion, they could have come up with something. What would it say about the relationship between Parliament and the people if we were to deny not only what we have recently promised, but what people out there, at our invitation, have asked us to do through the petition?

I should have much preferred a Conservative Government, but I support this Government sincerely and spiritedly. I was one of only about 50 Back Benchers who supported my right hon. Friend Mr Cameron in the leadership election, and now I really do think—I am not just sucking up—that he is a brilliant Prime Minister. I have never voted against the party line, even when I have known enough about what we were discussing to be aware that I should vote against it. I have loved doing my minuscule job as a parliamentary private secretary in the foreign affairs team, whose Ministers I respect—and believe me, they are doing a very good job. Trust me, and again I am not sucking up, they do not come better than the Minister for Europe—“Hear, hear” at this point. [Laughter.]

I am mostly enthusiastic about the coalition in private. If you are part of a team, you support it. But if you cannot support a particular policy, the honest course of action is of course to stand down. I want decisions to be closer to the people whom they affect—to be made by local communities, not sent upwards towards Brussels. I am not prepared to go back on my word to my constituents, and I am really staggered that loyal people

like me have been put in this position. If Britain’s future as an independent country is not a proper matter for a referendum, I have absolutely no idea what is.

William Cash

(Stone, Conservative)

Many people in the country, knowing of the integrity and the honesty that is reflected in my hon. Friend’s speech and knowing that this honourable gentleman—this honourable friend—has decided that he will resign his position as a parliamentary private secretary in the Foreign Office on a matter of such importance, will commend him for it.

Adam Holloway

(Gravesham, Conservative)

Obviously, I completely agree with my hon. Friend.

We do not have the right to give away powers entrusted to us by our constituents. To anyone who is still wondering which way to vote, I say: “Do not try to guess what the result of a referendum would be, and do not worry about wording or timing. You need only ask yourself two questions. First, is this the right thing to do in principle? Secondly, what do your constituents want you to do?” Here is our opportunity to show people that the system can work, that representative government continues to function in the land where it was nurtured and developed, and that patriotism—putting one’s country rather than one’s own interests first—is not foreign to the House.

Mark Pritchard

(The Wrekin, Conservative)

Will my hon. Friend give way?

Adam Holloway

(Gravesham, Conservative)

No, I really cannot give way now.

Members can repay the confidence placed in them by their constituents on that first evening when they stood on the platform and heard the returning officer mention their name. They should not rebel against the people who sent them here. For me, the bottom line is really quite straightforward. For seven years I have been wandering around telling the good people of Gravesham that we should have a referendum, and that we should renegotiate our position. Let me end by saying this: “If you have done the same, you must support the motion.”

Thinking of drinking and driving this Christmas?

Spend 5 mins hearing what our friends in Australia think.

Martin Durkin ’s shocking documentary “Britain’s Trillion Pound Horror Story” was shown last week on Channel 4, occasioning heated debate around the true size of Britain’s debt and the options to remedy it.

Please click here to view the video

Holy Trinity CE Primary School

Adam Holloway MP and Chief Superintendent Alison Roden, North Kent Police Area Commander, Gravesham

The excellent "Reading Recovery" programme at Holy Trinity School, with Mrs T Fenner.

Crime and antisocial behaviour

Chief Supt Alison Roden

I had my first meeting with the new North Kent Police Area Commander. The key topics of our discussion were plans to increase the targeting of antisocial behaviour, future policing budgets, and a review of some recent correspondence about issues affecting people living in Gravesham.

"Adam celebrating 25 years of the Lions Hospice"

Sunday, 21 February 2010

Adam Holloway: An end to steely-eyed killing machines

The old Bush/Blair mantras obscured a grim reality – we created the insurgency and cannot reduce it by sending in more troops

afp/getty images

Afghans gathering in Qari Saheb village in Helmand after the launch of Operation Moshtarak

"Strategic failure" is no longer a mere possibility in Afghanistan: it is the likely outcome. Last week's launch of "Operation Moshtarak" in Helmand province, southern Afghanistan, is an allegory for so much that has gone wrong with Nato's deployment.

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How our pliant Generals became Blair's Yes Men - Was Iraqi cabbie source of dodgy dossier?

Adam writes in a Daily Mail exclusive

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Litter clearing Gravesend 4th Demember 2009

I have had a number of complaints about litter around the constituency and have been out with a team of 10 people this morning picking up litter. I would like to add that this has nothing to do with the excellent street cleansing department at Gravesend Council but everything to do with people’s attitudes and laziness in dropping their rubbish where they stand or hurling it out of cars.

We collected 15 bags of litter in the vicinity of Love Lane, Wellington Street and the park. Please do not drop litter. Take it home with you or put it in the bins provided.

I suspect the half eaten rat we found in the gutter was not something a human had left but it had an exceptionally long tail which freaked out a member of the litter clearing team...!

Thank you very much to those who came along to help. In fairness to the Council, the areas we worked through were much much cleaner than we had expected. Next time it would be good to have rather more volunteers - and perhaps people could let us know areas that are being missed.

Adam visits the new building site for Northfleet Technology College for Boys Oct 09

Adam visits north Kent marsh site of RSPB at the Thames. RSPB describe the Thames Marshes as "the Serengeti for birds in the UK"

Adam with Inspector Mike Cotham, head of community policy unit Oct 09

Question and answer session at Cobham Primary School 2009

Meeting Friends of the Earth group to discuss friendly farming methods 2009

Ebbsfleet to St Pancras is really first class

I took the new High Speed service from Ebbsfleet to St Pancras the other day. I can only say that it is phenomenal. Fast, beautiful trains, and happy staff. It took us 15 minutes to get to London, and about the same amount of time to get into the underground station. ...and it is coming to Gravesend in mid-December or possibly earlier. I have often criticised South Eastern trains - the service to Waterloo etc from Gravesend is the worst I have ever been on in the UK - dirty, often late, and life suckingly slow. In fairness to them, their senior management (Messrs Horton and Gibson) have always been extremely responsive and helpful - but of course, the help we want is a faster ordinary service on timely cleaner trains. But I guess we can't have everything. For now, and the new service: well done, brilliant - expensive, but it really is First Class. I now have some idea of what lies behind train spotting: I must find myself an anorak.

60th Anniversary of N.A.T.O

April 4 2009, marked the 60 th anniversary of the North Atlantic Treaty.

The events of the past sixty years have rapidly evolved and NATO has taken on new challenges. However, its core values remain the same today as they were at it inception: peace, freedom, security and stability.

Heads of State and Government came together on 3-4 April at the NATO Summit in Strasbourg, France and Kehl, Germany. Against the backdrop of the 60 th anniversary, NATO leaders focussed on the broader and more strategic issues that face the organization, and considered the place and role of NATO within Euro-Atlantic security

Local MP afloat with Port Authority

Port of London Authority (PLA) crews have welcomed Adam aboard their salvage craft as he spent a morning seeing their work at first hand.

“It was great to be able to spend time with the skilled crew of Hookness and the PLA divers. This work is essential to keeping safe the many thousands of vessels that use the Port bringing us essentials including food and fuel.”