Steffan Aquarone's Commons debate on coastal communities

Yesterday Steffan Aquarone, the Liberal Democrat MP for North Norfolk, led a backbench Commons debate on coastal communities. Here is part of his speech:

I have covered just some of the key pillars of the challenges that our coastal communities face, as well as their resilience and our opportunity as a whole country to support them. What frustrates me greatly is that despite the wide-ranging and various challenges, responsibility for supporting them is fragmented and siloed across Government. 

I am delighted to see the Minister in his place; however, his remit contains only the communities aspect of our coastal communities. We have unique health challenges, economic challenges and opportunities of major environmental importance. 

Our coastal communities are too important to be bit parts of different portfolios, and we urgently need to take a holistic approach to supporting them, understanding how the different factors interact with one another. We need to be able to see and understand the impact of economic outcomes on health and wellbeing and how environmental challenges and renewable energy opportunities can go hand in hand.

That is why I have been calling for the creation of a Minister for coastal communities to give us a specific representative, speaking up for our areas in Government. That call has cross-party support, with MPs from across the House supporting it in the previous Parliament.

You can read the whole debate in Hansard. It was a good debate, and several other Lib Dem MPs spoke or intervened.

Behind the concerns expressed by members on both sides of the chamber, I suspect, is an anxiety about the appeal of Reform UK to some of these communities.