Whitsun Adjournment

The hon. Gentleman has heard me speak at length about the roads in my constituency, and I will not go through them all now; but let me mention one, which provides a clear example of lack of understanding. Until a little while ago the A303, which some Members know, was termed the second strategic route to the south-west. It is the alternative to the M4-M5 corridor. Somebody, somewhere, decided that it should no longer be the second strategic route to the south-west, so in the south-west regional spatial strategy it is downgraded to a "road of regional significance". It carries an enormous amount of traffic—not least the holidaymakers trying to make their way to the south-west peninsula each year—but because of that downgrading it will not get the improvements that it needs, which were promised over 12 years ago. It will not get the dualling that was required to make it effective and safe because somebody, somewhere—not the local council, not even the Secretary of State—has decided that, at a stroke of a pen, they can downgrade the main road to the west country. That is simply unacceptable. I have done my best for the road in recent years. I have repeatedly stated the need for these improvements, but my voice is not heard in this place by Ministers—by the people who take decisions—because there is somebody out there who is unaccountable, who says, "Oh no, Minister. I don't think we need to worry about this. This isn't a priority." Well, it is a priority; it is a priority for my constituents, and they expect people to hear what they say. I do not want to go any further on this subject. I simply say that we need a massive programme of reform—of democratic renewal. We really need a crusade that makes people understand that actually democracy is precious, and that we are in danger of losing our credentials as a democratic nation simply because people no longer have any confidence in the system. It starts in this place—getting this place right, getting it working. Then, it must apply to our wider constitution—making that more effective. It must then widen to empower the individual—it is a cant phrase, but a necessary phrase—so that they know that their voice is heard, that they have a mechanism by which they can articulate their hopes and fears, and that somebody will listen. At the moment they believe nobody is listening, and that is what is wrong with our democratic processes.