Christmas Adjournment

I do not doubt the hon. Gentleman’s patriotism, but it was the Labour council in Romford at the time that voted against a motion to fly the flag of our country. That is recorded as having happened and it is undeniable. It was the market traders, local councillors, local people and myself who forced the Labour council into flying the flag on the Queen Mother’s 100th birthday. The flag has not been removed since. The council had to fly the flag because the people demanded it. This has been a sad year, because we have lost one of the greatest Members of Parliament in the House of Lords—Lord Harris of High Cross, who died a couple of months ago. He was a truly great man. He was not a member of any political party, but he influenced the Conservative Governments of Margaret Thatcher, who led our country to the economic success that it enjoys today. He was a man who upheld the freedoms and liberties of British people, and he pioneered the free market economics that benefits all people in this country. His death is a tremendous loss to Parliament. We are all very sad that Ralph is no longer with us, but his legacy lives on, with his policies being pursued by both the Conservative party and a Labour Government. I am also disappointed that the St. George’s Day Bill, which I promoted, did not receive the necessary time this year to become the law of this country. I thank the hon. Member for Chorley (Mr. Hoyle), who co-sponsored that Bill, and I look forward to the Government recognising St. George’s day, as we do St. Patrick’s day. I believe that all countries should have a day that they can celebrate and support. I thank all hon. Members who supported that Bill, which I promoted earlier this year. We also celebrated the 80th birthday of Her Majesty the Queen in 2006. What a magnificent Head of State we have—what a truly wonderful lady, who represents our country for all people and unites this country. At the end of this year, I should like to wish her many happy returns for her 80th year. We very much look forward to her continuing as our Queen for many years to come. Next year we shall celebrate the diamond wedding anniversary of Her Majesty the Queen and the Duke of Edinburgh. No doubt we shall all pay tribute to them when that time arrives. Earlier this year I had the privilege of visiting Highgrove house, by invitation of His Royal Highness the Prince of Wales, along with a number of other Members of Parliament, to see the work of the Prince’s Trust and all the charities in which he is involved. There is a lot of unjustified and unfair criticism of His Royal Highness. I hope that people will look at the work that the Prince of Wales does in so many areas, particularly for the young people, and acknowledge that he is a tremendous champion of so many good causes in our country. Of course, Her Majesty the Queen and the royal family do not represent only the people of the United Kingdom—Great Britain and, we must never forget, Northern Ireland. She is also the Head of State of Australia, New Zealand, Canada and many other countries around the globe, including the British overseas territories and Crown dependencies, which have no elected voice in this place despite the fact that other countries, such as France and Denmark, give their territories a voice. I hope that the Minister will go away with the idea that reform of the House of Lords is a way of allowing people from the overseas territories and Crown dependencies to have a voice in the Parliament of this country, which makes laws and decisions that affect the people of those great territories and dependencies. I have been pleased to visit many of them as a Member of Parliament. This year I went to the Cayman islands and Gibraltar, and last year I visited the Falkland islands. I hope that consideration is given to allowing them an official voice somewhere in the Parliament of the United Kingdom. Next year we celebrate the 25th anniversary of the liberation of the people of the Falkland islands. I hope that that will be a year of celebration as we recall the events of 1982 and the courageous actions of British servicemen who rescued those islands from Argentine aggression. Of course, we must also pay tribute to the Prime Minister of the time whose resolution ensured that British territory was recovered and that the freedom of those people was secured. I hope that all hon. Members will pay tribute to Lady Thatcher for her courage and determination and that of her Government. I shall end by talking a bit more about my constituency. This is Christmas, and I want to pay tribute to local groups and organisations that have celebrated this great Christian tradition, which we must uphold. I have visited about 40 to 50 Christmas events over the past five or six weeks. Many of them were held at schools and churches, and I shall mention a few of them: St. John the Divine church in Mawney road, which is a small church that needs more members, but continues to uphold the Christian tradition in that part of my constituency; the church of Christ the Eternal High Priest, a Catholic church; and the Elim Pentecostal church. I visited all those on Sunday. I started with the Catholic church, moved on to the Church of England and finished up at the Pentecostal church. All of them celebrate the Christian tradition. I also visited the Salvation Army, which produces a wonderful concert, opening its doors to all local people to celebrate Christmas, and a number of schools: the St. Mary Hare Park school in Gidea Park, which had a wonderful Christmas nativity concert, and my own ex-junior school, Rise Park, to which I was proud to return to see its nativity play again this year. I also attended many Christmas fairs, raising money for local charities and good causes, at Gidea Park school, St. Augustine church in Rush Green, St. Alban’s church in Romford, St. Patrick’s Catholic school in Collier Row, Havering Road Methodist church in Rise Park, St. Edward’s primary school and North Romford community centre, which is run by volunteers who do a magnificent job for all the people in the northern part of my constituency. I pay tribute to the Havering Singers, who cover the three constituencies of Romford, Hornchurch and Upminster and this year celebrate their 60th anniversary. They put on a magnificent concert on Saturday evening, which I was proud to attend. I also pay tribute to the Royal British Legion band and corps of drums, which this year is the national champion. Two weeks ago, it gave another wonderful concert in Romford. Finally, I pay tribute to an organisation that is not now in my constituency but originated there. The Remus Memorial Horse Sanctuary is now in the constituency of my very good friend, my hon. Friend the Member for West Chelmsford (Mr. Burns). I visited the sanctuary only two weeks ago to celebrate Christmas with a carol service in a barn full of people and animals. The animals are looked after and loved by the people at the sanctuary; it is a wonderful place. If anyone is looking for unusual Christmas presents this year, let me recommend one or two. One possibility is sponsoring an animal at the Remus Memorial Horse Sanctuary. There is Blossom, a lovely Aberdeen Angus cow who was rescued from flooded land as a calf; Marigold, a very long-eared grey donkey; Piggy, a friendly swine found wandering loose in Brentwood during the foot and mouth outbreak a couple of years ago; and Buttons the horse, rescued 18 months ago, whom I have sponsored once again this year. I congratulate the Government on the Animal Welfare Act 2006, which was a wonderful step forward for animal welfare in this country. However, I draw the Minister’s attention to early-day motion 170, which I tabled, on dogs given as Christmas presents. If there is one message that we should send to people, it is, ““Please don’t buy a dog unless you know that it will go to a good home and be looked after properly, rather than being abandoned after Christmas.”” That would be a wicked and cruel thing to do to an animal at such a wonderful time of year. I congratulate the Dogs Trust on all that it does to promote dog welfare. Finally, I wish everyone a merry Christmas. I hope that the bulldog spirit will come out in 2007 and, along with my own Staffordshire bull terrier, Buster, I extend Christmas wishes to all Members, whatever their political party. We look forward to a happy, healthy, peaceful and prosperous 2007.