HC Deb 10 July 1974 vol 876 cc1333-5
3. Mr. MacCormick

asked the Secretary of State for Scotland how many children of United States Navy personnel stationed at the Polaris base on the Holy Loch are receiving their primary education in Scotland.

The Under-Secretary of State for Scotland (Mr. Robert Hughes)

This information is not available centrally.

Mr. MacCormick

In view of the widespread misgivings of parents in the area—[Interruption.] I am in a position to know about this—does the hon. Gentleman not agree that as children of United States personnel are there for such a short time; as they, therefore, disrupt the work of the school, and as the United States Navy provides petrol stations and shops, there is no reason why the United States should not also provide such facilities as schools, especially as at one school in the area 200 American children will be attending on a short-term basis?

Mr. Hughes

We have absolutely no evidence that the number of children of American Service personnel is causing the kind of difficulty suggested by the hon. Gentleman. People who live in this country are subject to the laws of this country, and they are entitled to send their children to local schools. I hope that we shall not have children of foreign residents in Britain singled out in this way as being the cause of any difficulties in schools.

Mr. Buchanan-Smith

As a Member representing a constituency which also has within it an American air base, may I completely dissociate myself from the remarks of the hon. Member for Argyll (Mr. MacCormick) and say how much we welcome the presence of the Americans in Scotland? Will the hon. Gentleman please deny the talk of segregation of a friendly Power, put forward by the Scottish National Party?

Mr. Hughes

I am grateful to the hon. Gentleman for his remarks. I reject segregation on any basis of nationality, religion or race. It does the people of Scotland no good to suggest that in some way these children are unwelcome. The views of the people of Scotland about the Polaris base are a different matter; but the children should not be castigated in this way.

Mr. Barry Henderson

Can the hon. Gentleman give any information about the number of Scots living and working in the United States, temporarily or permanently, whose children are educated there, and whether this kind of reciprocal arrangement is healthy both in the understanding of the internationalism of Scotsmen and the way in which this can also work out in terms of international economic arguments?

Mr. Hughes

The hon. Gentleman will understand that I have no such figures about the number of Scots in the United States or anywhere else. One would hope that children of different cultures and backgrounds mixing together could do much to foster international understanding. The kind of thoughts behind the original Question add nothing to that, or to the traditional Scottish cultural and friendly relations with people throughout the world.

Mr. Baxter

I think that my hon. Friend the Under-Secretary is being a bit unfair. With due respect, a simple enough question was put to him, asking whether this has dislocated the school activities in that area. If it has, steps should be taken to see that the local inhabitants' children are given a full and adequate education. That is the purpose behind the Question, and I would not want it to go forth from the House that hon. Members are so hidebound as to be prejudiced, either on one side or the other.

Mr. Speaker

Order. The hon. Gentleman has not asked a question, which he should have done.

Mr. Hughes

Nevertheless, Mr. Speaker, I think that the implied question requires an answer. We have absolutely no evidence that the education of children in the area to which the hon. Member for Argyll referred is being disrupted by the children of the United States Navy personnel. But if there were at any time to be identified signs of stress in Scottish education in any area, the answer would be not to segregate them off but to see that a full education was provided for all the children in the area.

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