London Olympics Bill

I add my congratulations to the hon. Member for Cheadle (Mark Hunter), whose speech displayed an excellent grasp of all the issues affecting his constituency and obvious dedication to it. I wish him well in his future political life in this place. I also wish to congratulate my right hon. Friend the Minister and the whole Olympic bid team on their hard work and determination in bringing the Olympics to London. There is nothing like an international race involving the French and the Brits to get the heart and lungs pumping. We were a little late out of the blocks but still took the winner’s tape, which shows the mettle of the British team. Along with the rest of the country, my constituents have welcomed the decision to bring the games to London in 2012, because they recognise the prospects for the whole country. Like my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State, I have been amazed by the reaction from children and young people. On numerous occasions when I have visited the schools, clubs and colleges in my constituency, they have shared with me their hopes and dreams of success in the future, focusing particularly on 2012 as the culmination of all of their ambitions. Imagine the effect on all those hopes and dreams when Conservative-controlled Dudley council announced plans to close Brierley Hill swimming baths, a facility that serves my constituents and those of the Minister for Trade, my hon. Friend the Member for Dudley, South (Ian Pearson). Many of my constituents from Brierley Hill, Amblecote and Quarry Bank learned to swim at Brierley Hill and many children still receive their lessons there. Local schools use the baths and the leisure centre is home to the Brierley Hill and Stourbridge swimming clubs and to the Dudley Dolphins diving club. In addition to competitive sport, the baths and the rest of the leisure centre provide local people with opportunities to improve their fitness and to relax. The decision to close the baths is in direct conflict with advice from Sport England, whose survey proved that Dudley as a whole has poor provision of sporting water space. Our club swimmers and juniors have great prospects for achievement in 2012, but no hope of assistance due to that short-sighted council decision. The blow was all the harder to take when the first citizen of Dudley, the mayor, added his vote to close the baths. The local newspaper, the Stourbridge News, which serves Dudley, South and my constituency, has launched a campaign with SOS—Save our Swimming—to retain the baths, or at least to encourage the council to find an alternative piece of land for a replacement facility, to provide a venue for learning vital life skills and for maintaining the fitness and health of all my constituents, as well as developing the talents of young swimmers and divers in Dudley and Stourbridge. I hate to be the spectre at the feast, but my constituents voted for me to protect their interests and to champion their rights. They have the right to good health and good local council services and, most important, my younger constituents deserve the chance to dream and to achieve. All that will be harder to attain in the light of that short-sighted decision. I ask my right hon. Friend the Minister of State to join me in condemning that decision, to add his name to the petition to save the baths and to use his good offices to prevail on Dudley council to reverse the decision.