§ 6. Mr. SkinnerTo ask the Secretary of State for National Heritage when he expects to visit Bolsover castle, Hardwick hall and Ogston reservoir to promote tourism in the area.
§ Mr. SkinnerIf the Minister decides—or dares—to go to Bolsover, he had better take some money with him and change the standard spending assessments for Bolsover and other local authorities to those which apply to Westminster and Wandsworth so as to improve the infrastructure, promote tourism in the area and get rid of the dioxin that is blighting it. If he decides to go without any money, we shall take him to Ogston reservoir which, despite the drought, is still deep enough to submerge a big fat Minister.
§ Mr. KeyI am grateful to the hon. Gentleman for his gentle and friendly welcome, and I look forward to being given tea and sympathy in his ancestral home when I visit his constituency. It is just as well that in my previous incarnation I was a local government finance Minister. If only the hon. Gentleman's county council and other local authorities would stop mucking about and get down to some hard business, we might get somewhere.
To reply specifically to the points that the hon. Gentleman has made, I was indeed distressed to hear that the walls of Bolsover castle are crumbling in spite of the hon. Gentleman. I understand that research is being done by the Building Research Establishment and I shall read it with great interest. I also look forward to visiting Ogston reservoir. The hon. Gentleman should be proud to represent Hardwick hall, Bolsover castle and Ogston reservoir, which have an excellent record on tourism. An increasing number of people visit that part of the world, despite the hon. Gentleman.
§ Mrs. CurrieWould it not do wonders for tourism in Derbyshire if the hon. Member for Bolsover (Mr. Skinner) were taken at his word, locked up in Bolsover castle and the key thrown away, and if he were then encouraged to make an exhibition of himself up there? I assure my hon. Friend of a warm welcome in south Derbyshire. May I invite him to take another look at the potential for tourism of the Trent and Mersey canal which runs right through my constituency?
§ Mr. KeyI am grateful to my hon. Friend for her warm and friendly welcome and I look forward to visiting her constituency when I am in that part of the world. She is absolutely right to draw my attention and that of the House to the potential of waterways in tourism. Water is crucial there, as it is for urban regeneration schemes, and it is an important part of our tourist industry as well as our heritage.