Maiden speech by Bob Neill, MP Wednesday 19 June 2006
House of Commons
Column 381
3.48 pm
Robert Neill (Bromley and Chislehurst) (Con): I am grateful and relieved to have caught your eye, Mr. Deputy Speaker, and to be able to make my first speech in the House during this debate. Indeed, after last Wednesday's events I am grateful and relieved that there is a debate for me to speak in.
I begin my speech with mixed feelings-in particular, feelings of both humility and sadness. I say that, of course, in relation to my predecessor, the right hon. Eric Forth. It is not easy to follow someone who became a legend in the House in his own lifetime. He was an exceptional parliamentarian, someone who was passionate about the House and passionate about the defence of its rights, as he was passionate about the rights and freedoms of the individual. He was passionate about the integrity of the democratic and legislative process. If he sometimes made himself less than popular on Friday mornings in that regard, it was because he believed in the importance of making any measure presented to the House subject to the most rigorous scrutiny. It would be interesting to know what he might have said had he been here to contribute to this debate.
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Chislehurst was at one time home to Emperor Napoleon III during his exile in this country. He was attracted, apparently, by its easy rail access to London-plus ca change, some might say. A later inhabitant was Richmal Crompton and many people say that characters and places in the "Just William" books can be identified in Chislehurst to this day. One story was entitled something like "William Gets By" and, after the by-election, I have some sympathy with that sentiment; indeed, I remember thinking that I should re-read that story.
Bromley was home to H. G. Wells who, happily from my point of view, did not have as lasting an impact on the political philosophy of its residents as he might have done. Even more dramatically, the place was home to Prince Peter Kropotkin, author of the theory of anarchism.
On a different tack, William Pitt the Younger had his home at Holmwood in the southern end of the constituency, and it is particularly relevant, with the anniversary of the abolition of slavery coming up, that it was in the gardens there that he and William Wilberforce talked about Wilberforce's proposals to abolish the slave trade.
So my constituency has had a pretty varied and lively past€”not entirely typical of suburbia, I would submit. Of course, its present-day occupants and residents come from a diverse background, too. What they have in common, as well as that dual identity between London and Kent, is that they are the people who through their skills and hard work are the engine that keeps London the economic powerhouse and centre that it is. [Face out]