Bruce was at Walsall FC this weekend to present Walsall Football Club’s Community Programme with a cheque for £283,000 from the Football Foundation. The money will be used by the Community Programme for a three-year health and fitness programme. The “Walsall Winners” programme is supported by Walsall Football Club, local schools and the Primary Care Trust.

The presentation took place during the half-time interval of Walsall’s League One fixture against Tranmere Rovers on Saturday, 5th April. Supporters witnessed the substantial cheque presentation, which was presented to Mick Kearns, Manager of the Walsall Football Club Community Programme.

The Football Foundation is dedicated to revitalising the grass roots of the game. Funded by the Premier League, The Football Association and Government, the Football Foundation is the nation’s largest sports charity with a £45 million budget going straight into the heart of football.

Mr. Bruce George (Walsall, South) (Lab): Thank you, Mr. Caton. I am sorry that I arrived late. I have only heard three and a half speeches and, frankly, I am delighted that I arrived as late as did. I would have preferred it if, with your permission, I could have spoken without having listened. I find what has been said quite incredible in many respects.

I say with no disrespect to the hon. Member for Spelthorne (Mr. Wilshire) that, if the Labour party was in bed with an authoritarian party in a European institution, I would wonder whether I wished to remain in it. I wonder why the Council of Europe was in Russia anyway, observing what were obviously going to be fraudulent elections on an epic scale. Although the hon. Gentleman did not find any fraud in Vladivostok—I am not sure, because I have not been there—there could very well have been fraud at 92,000 other polling stations, because there was fraud on a systemic, epic basis.

People do not cheat at elections on election day if they have fixed the results beforehand, because the odd election observer will be running around and because they will, of course, know how many observers are on aircraft heading for Vladivostok or anywhere else. Therefore, in the five or six polling stations that anyone could visit we could be certain that were fraud going to be committed it would not be done in front of even a sympathetic ear and eye.

I headed a short-term observation mission to Russia four years ago at the Duma elections and said in my speech, which irritated the Russians, that those elections fell well short of international standards. I will not bore hon. Members with the details of why we reached our conclusions. When I was asked, as president of the Organisation for Security and Co-operation in Europe Parliamentary Assembly, whether I would observe the following presidential elections, I said, “No, I’m not going to waste British taxpayers’ money, nor will the OSCE Parliamentary Assembly, in attending not an election but a coronation.”

Mr. Wilshire: Will the right hon. Gentleman give way?

Mr. George: No, I have too little time in which to speak. I can speak to the hon. Gentleman afterwards.

It was obvious that the elections were going to be fraudulent. It offends me that an organisation for which I had the deepest respect—the Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights—has been subject to a persistent and lengthy campaign of abuse in an attempt to diminish its competence and to eliminate it. I have chronicled this campaign in enormous detail, fortunately, in part, with the collusion of the OSCE Parliamentary Assembly.

There was a systematic attempt to prevent proper election observation. Those responsible unilaterally deconstructed ODIHR’s methodology: they would not provide visas until a few days before the election and they would only allow 70 people to turn up. I said that there were 92,000 polling stations and, quite rightly, ODIHR refused to go under those conditions. But, of course, the OSCE Parliamentary Assembly, followed by or alongside the Council of Europe, went out and observed what were obviously going to be appalling elections.

When it came to the presidential elections, ODIHR was again prevented from observing. The OSCE Parliamentary Assembly wisely and belatedly refused to dignify fraudulent elections with their attendance, but the Council of Europe went along on its own, with I do not know how many people. If all the people were as friendly towards the electoral process as the hon. Gentleman who has just spoken, I am surprised that they produced a critical report.

I am not anti-Russian. I went through the cold war. I tried my best after the cold war to engage with the Russians. Yes, it was a corrupt society and, yes, Yeltsin was a flawed character, but his regime was followed by another. That regime is proceeding in such a way that alarm bells are starting to ring for me if not for others. Not only are its elections fraudulent but it is almost a single-party state.

Legitimate candidates were barred from standing. One was barred because he did not have enough signatures: 3 million signatures were whittled down to below the minimum. Legitimate candidates, including Garry Kasparov, were prevented from attending. Zhirinovsky’s party, which is not an opposition party, was also there. One other guy stood—he was very much in the Putin camp—and even the other parties are well in the pocket of the Administration. I cannot see why we should be so nice, when Russia is doing something like that on that one front alone.

The Council of Europe has about 3,000 non-governmental organisations accredited to it. What has happened to Russian NGOs? They have been deliberately targeted for destruction. What about international NGOs? Their leaders and characters working with them have been beaten up. What about the BBC World Service and the British Council? What about the overflying or near overflying of British airspace by Russian aircraft? What about all the things that Russia is doing?

Hon. Members may say, “Fine. This is an independent state. They have had one hell of a history.” We can smile and say, “We’ll help you. If democracy comes in 300 years, we’ll be around to help you over that period.” I take a rather different view. If the Russians are playing as they are, we should not go back into a cold war on our side, but we should not be supine. Some countries are being supine, first, because they are natural apologists for anybody and, secondly, because they do not like a fight and prefer the Americans and the British, largely, to do it for them, if necessary.

I am sympathetic towards Georgia and its aspirations. Hon. Members have said that we should not mess in Russia’s backyard. Does that mean that if a sovereign nation was once part of the Soviet Union and wants to get the hell out of it, we can do nothing to assist it because it is in Russia’s backyard? Ukraine may have been the origin of Russia, but it wishes to leave Russia’s orbit.

I headed the short-term observation missions to the rose and orange revolutions three or four years ago. Putin worked hard to support Yanukovych, who was a pro-Russian candidate against the democratic candidates and the party led by Yushchenko and Tymoshenko. If Ukraine wants to join NATO, despite the fact that it is adjacent to Russia, and most Ukrainians do not want to be part of Russia, that is its sovereign right. Why consider the Russian position, but not the Ukrainian position? Why consider Russian self-interest, but not Georgian self-interest?

The Georgians make the third largest contribution of soldiers to NATO’s operations, and more than many countries that are part of NATO. They have overcome their problems of authoritarianism, and they are a consolidating democracy, not a consolidated democracy. Exports to Russia have been barred, travel has been greatly restricted, and two areas that are juridically part of Georgia—South Ossetia and Abkhazia—are in essence under Russian control. Do we say to the Russians, “Ah, as this was part of your empire, we will allow you to stop other countries that want to get away from you, and to make them play by your rules in perpetuity.”? The Russians are trying to destroy Georgia, and I could spend ages telling the Chamber how the Georgians are becoming more democratic, but they are not yet there. I observed the elections, which were not as good as I had hoped, but to compare the Georgian elections to the Russian elections, and to compare some bad municipal elections in Birmingham and perhaps half a dozen other cities—we know who did the cheating—to elections elsewhere, as though that indicates that as our elections are fraudulent we should close our eyes to massive fraud in Russian elections, is disingenuous. That is as polite as I can be.

I am glad that I shall finish speaking soon, because I am becoming madder and madder about what I have heard. We must try to engage with the Russians, but not on our knees. The argument by the hon. Member for Orpington (Mr. Horam) was like jumping into Dr. Who’s telephone kiosk and going back 25 years to listen to the Tribune-reading, left-wing John Horam trashing America and supporting Russia. If I had to make a decision on our security and where it lies in the next 10, 20 or 30 years, after Bush has gone, I would much prefer to have Europe closer to the United States than toadying up to the Russians.

I thank you for your indulgence, Mr. Caton. It is difficult for a Welshman to make a short speech. I should have congratulated the Committee on its excellent report. We must not become paranoid, but we know who our allies are. Putin is going along to see his mates in NATO. He knows who they are, and he knows who they put pressure on to be nice to Russia, and to keep Georgia out. We can all name those names. No doubt he will be given a warm welcome, and will be thanked for doing a wonderful job before going back.

The main beneficiary of the summit in Bucharest will be Russia, because it will have proven that the west has no bottle whatever and that it is prepared to lie down and to take any humiliation that is heaped upon it. Russia will find its allies all over the place and in many legislatures, and will have succeeded, with our collusion, in keeping Georgia out of NATO. That will be a good day’s work for the Russians, and a bad day’s work for those who acquiesce in that objective in foreign policy.
We must not be supine. We must work with our allies and defend our national interests, even if the Russians are doing us or our allies down. We must robustly defend our position. We must hope that the Russians will not substitute the red army for Gazprom and switch off oil and gas to our NATO and European allies. If I were asked whether they would do that, I would say, as a left-wing Labour Member of Parliament once said, “Why look into a crystal ball if the future can be read in a book?” Russia has done it. It has shut off oil and gas to Georgia and Ukraine, and even to its closest ally, Belarus. When will it be our turn?

I am not a cold warrior. I do not want the cold war to return, but nor do I want an attitude of indifference—or, rather, cravenness—to the Russians because they have a bad history. What about the bad Russian history that impinged on eastern and central Europe and other parts of the world? We must consider countries other than Russia, hope that they will become democratic, and help them as far as we can. But if they seek to damage our interests, I hope that this Government and any other Government will have the bottle to stand up for our interests and those of Europe and NATO.

We all love a good conspiracy theory. Most of them, however, turn out to be pure nonsense, nothing more than a rumour in circulation, or a theory given a big boost by the media or by someone constantly banging on about it. The obvious contender for the most prolific spreader of a dodgy story is Mohammed Al-Fayed and his theory about the death of his son and Princess Diana.

Hopefully, his constant and vocal re-telling of his version of how his beloved son and Princess Diana died will end with the inquest jury’s verdict, but I very much doubt it. Urban myths and conspiracies are as old as history. Some of the more notorious examples include the “faked” American landing on the Moon, the ridiculous claim that 9/11 was a US (or Israeli) government conspiracy, the endless theories surrounding the assassination of JFK, the claim that Paul McCartney died in 1966 has was replaced by an impersonator and of course the arrival of aliens in Roswell, New Mexico.

The problem with many of these myths and conspiracies is that they do very occasionally turn out to be true, or at least an element of them turns out to be true. John F. Kennedy had literally hundreds of lovers, one of whom was alleged to be Marilyn Monroe. This turned out to be absolutely true and this led many to believe, not unreasonably, that some of the conspiracies about his assassination were also true.

Like the Coroner, I am absolutely convinced that neither Prince Phillip, the Police, MI5 or MI6, or any other government agency, were in any way responsible for the tragic deaths of Diana and Dodi Al-Fayed. In order to satisfy Mohammed Al Fayed’s desire for vengeance (egged on by the media), the inquest has cost the taxpayer £10 million and that doesn’t include the cost of previous inquiries.

The inquest has heard from more than 250 witnesses. Before this inquest there had been a number of major inquiries, the largest, led by Former Metropolitan Police Commissioner Sir John Stevens, concluded shortly before the inquest began. The Coroner’s inquiry has left few people in doubt about what he thinks about the claims. Speaking at the start of this week, he directed the jury to dismiss the conspiracy theories of Price Phillip ordering the Princess’ murder or that MI6 orchestrated the car crash. It is now for the jury to decide the final verdict. Having listened to the endless innuendo and accusations for over a decade, I’m sick of this bandwagon rolling on and on.

My view is quite conventional; their driver had a few drinks, he was driving too quickly through a Paris tunnel to escape the paparazzi (who the judge denounced as liars too) which was followed by an inevitable crash. We can all recall when and where we heard the tragic news. It is time to let Princess Diana, who had a number of connections with Walsall charities to rest in peace. This is most of all important for her beloved sons for whom it must be agonising to have even the most personal details of her life endlessly raked over, but it is also important for all the people everywhere who admired her. Mr Al-Fayed has promised to accept the verdict. I’ll believe it when it happens.

Bruce George MP, former President of the Organisation for Security Cooperation in Europe’s (OSCE) Parliamentary Assembly today welcomed the decision of the OSCE to reject an invitation to observe the upcoming Russian Presidential Election.

Speaking today he said “As a former President of the OSCE Parliamentary Assembly and as someone who has headed 18 Short Term Observation Missions including the Russian Duma Elections in 2003 I have been following events in Russia very closely.

I am saddened that Russia is continuing its policy of preventing long term professional observation of their elections. This follows their obstructionism prior to the Duma Elections last year. ODIHR is the very highly respected election observation arm of the OSCE (of which Russia is a member) but the conditions Russia imposed made it impossible for any self respecting election observation mission to accept. ODIHR tried very hard to persuade the Russian Electoral Commission (in reality the Russian President) to allow them to do their professional job, but in the end were forced to withdraw. I am delighted too that unlike the Parliamentary elections in 2007 the OSCE Parliamentary Assembly has declined to attend.

Every man and his dog knows how far short the Russian parliamentary elections fell below international standards. The so-called Presidential “elections” have been fixed well in advance. What will pass for an election will in effect be more of a coronation and a squalid one at that.”

I’ve campaigned over the years to protect the Green Belt; it goes without saying that urban areas like ours need open space. Developers have their own agenda and no doubt some have already cast their eyes over the site of Three Crowns School. I urge residents of Walsall to protest strongly should the Council give permission to build on the site. I would prefer the existing buildings to be used by a school, but certainly not violating the green belt.

Those Walsall residents who were in the “Land Army” in the Second World War will be pleased to have heard the government is to honour them and acknowledge their contribution during the Second World War with a badge of recognition. Those Walsall residents who believe they are eligible for the award can either apply via the DEFRA website http://www.defra.gov.uk/farm/working/wla/index.htm or if they would like assistance in applying they can contact my office.

I attended a poignant ceremony in the Art Gallery last Saturday to mark Holocaust Day. History is filled with barbaric acts of mass brutality and killing, cities and towns laid waste and their populations butchered. The twentieth century was filled with examples. The deliberate murder of millions by Stalin; the Nazi mass-murdering of Jews; Rwanda, Congo, and now Darfur. We live in supposedly more civilised times. Could it happen again? Of course it could, and the international community has to do more than wring its hands, send a few hundred peacekeepers or have people write to the Guardian. We have to do better.

We have to do better to raise educational standards too. The recent OFSTED report on Darlaston Community Science College was horrendous. It’s difficult to change in a couple of years the neglect of decades. Everyone concerned with the school should carry around on their person a copy of that report to remind them what needs to be done. When OFSTED come back in six months they will expect to see progress and again six months later. That’s the real crunch point, with severe consequences for failure. I personally will give both Education Walsall and Darlaston Community Science College all the support I can. One possible solution for the school is academy status. I’m very wary until I know more about where the money would be coming from and who’s giving it. I’d be reluctant for the local authority to wash its hands of the school by letting somebody else pick up the pieces. There has to be a very wide debate where local views are solicited. I’m in the same dilemma on fairly similar moves to change the status of local hospitals where they become foundation trusts.

Bruce George MP celebrates achievements of young people in Walsall South who have received an award in the Help Yourselves scheme at special awards ceremony in Westminster.

Bruce said, “I am delighted that the Walsall Street Teams’ Jigsaw Project have been recognised for their work. They ran a successful series of workshops to engage group of vulnerable young women most of whom are now back in education or work. The success of this pilot led to Walsall Street Team making it a permanent piece of their work.

“It is a great example of how young people can make a difference in their local community. Other young people should think about what they can do in their community and apply for an award through the Save the Children and British Gas Help Yourselves scheme. It’s a great opportunity to make a difference.”

Bruce has also added his name to an Early Day Motion expressing concern about the plight of young people in deprived areas; welcoming the awards scheme and calling on the Government to do more to support young people living in deprived areas. He will also be visiting the scheme in his constituency later this month.

Save the Children and British Gas teamed up to create ‘Help Yourselves’ – a small grants scheme aimed at empowering and engaging children and young people who actively wanted to make a difference to their lives and the lives of their community. Help Yourselves was launched in 2005 and since then over 180 grants of £1,000 or £3,000 have been given to groups of vulnerable children and young people to do something proactive to make their lives and communities better.

‘Help Yourselves’ was created especially for young people. It provides the opportunities and advice they need to change and improve their quality of life by being actively involved in making changes to the communities in which they live.

Roxane Brown, Manager of Help Yourselves at Save the Children said, “Save the Children is very excited about celebrating the outstanding achievements of young people at this awards ceremony. We hope it will also encourage more people to get involved with the scheme as it goes from strength to strength in 2008. The Help Yourselves grants encourage children living in deprived areas to actively participate in making changes within their communities and to their lives. Save the Children particularly welcomes applications from groups who may face discrimination and disadvantage in society because of issues relating to, for example, geography, gender, ethnicity or disability. ”

The awards ceremony also marks the start of the next stage of Help Yourselves - where bigger grants are going to be given out during 2008. The new phase will include 40 awards of £1000, 8 awards of £5000 and 3 awards of £10,000 - all of which will help children themselves set up lasting projects in their communities and really have a say in what goes on in their lives.

The Prime Minister took time out of his schedule this week to meet Bruce George MP. The meeting was called by the PM to discuss his forthcoming trip to China and India. Gordon Brown wanted to hear the views of Bruce George and a small group of Members of Parliament on the issues to be raised during the trip.

The PM outlined the objectives for the visit including making the UK the European partner of choice for Indian and Chinese trade investment; to work with India and China on the big global challenges from poverty to climate change; to promote new English language initiatives in both countries; to build sporting and cultural links and to discuss reform of the global institutions from the UN to the World Bank.

Gordon Brown said afterwards “I had an extremely useful discussion with Bruce George MP. He emphasised to me the importance of our relations with India and China and the many links between families in his constituency and family members in both countries. We discussed the importance of trade and investment links with both India and China, and development in India. We also spoke about the power of education to transform women’s lives, and therefore the lives of families and communities. I will take forward a number of issues he raised with me and report back on my return.”

Bruce George said today “It was a very useful meeting and I raised a number of issues which I hope will be helpful. I hope the Prime Minister will visit other countries in the sub-continent in the not-too distant future, especially Pakistan and Bangladesh. The Indian sub-continent is becoming more and more important, and there are a large number of people in Walsall South who follow events there very closely. I very much hope that elections will proceed in Pakistan and that democracy will develop in the region.”

I’ve had a Parliamentary recess of contrasts. Most people will think it has been holiday time; quite the reverse. I’ve had a very busy programme. Before Christmas I visited Alumwell Junior School to attend a farewell ceremony for an immensely popular teacher John Oaker. It was a very moving ceremony, there were a number of speeches eulogising him. John has only ever taught in one school, Alumwell, and has done so for 40 years. It was his first and only job. He brought pupils down to Parliament, usually 90 in a week, for 35 years introducing young people to Westminster and London. When people criticise education they must always remember the enormous contribution being made by the likes of John.

On the theme of education during the recess I also visited Walsall College. I’ve been going to the College periodically for 35 years. The building is typical of the late 1950s, it’s clapped out and it’s about to be demolished. What will replace it will be a magnificent and well worthy of our town. Nearby there is being built an amazing complex for very high tech companies and the college should supply the computer specialists for this 21st century industry. Walsall is often associated with traditional industries, but the way for the future is to retain what we do well, but simultaneously move to a new dimension.

Elections have been very much on my mind. We are witnessing the chaos and bloodshed in Kenya, with possibly up to 1,000 killed. You may recall that I have headed a number of election observation missions. At the time of writing I am returning from Georgia, in the Caucasus having monitored the recent Presidential elections. They took place two days before the Georgian Orthodox Christmas. It was a very contentious election and two days after there is still some doubt over the winner. I’m glad our elections are not as controversial and very hotly fought, in every sense of the word.

May I wish my constituents in Walsall South and the people of wider Walsall the very best wishes for 2008 – and well beyond. I know it may seem slightly absurd but I would like to express similar sentiments to the town.

Many good things are just about to happen in Walsall – a much enlarged hospital, a new Walsall College, premises for High Tech companies, substantial town centre redevelopments and many other regeneration projects will change the face of our town for the better.

Over the last year or so there have also been substantial improvements in the local governance, particularly in the field of education and housing, which have largely been taken away from the Council’s responsibility.

Walsall has been a bit of a backwater, totally overshadowed by Birmingham and even by some of our smaller neighbours. The signs however are very positive and I would like to thank all of those in government, both locally and nationally, the public and private sectors, and many other groups who are helping to make Walsall a town for the Twenty First Century.

Bruce George MP has for many years been fighting the cause of constituents who experience difficulties in selling their properties due to the proximity of mineshafts.

Bruce has had a number of meetings with the Coal Authority and recently launched a further campaign, nationally and locally, in order to ascertain from local estate agents, valuers and mortgage lenders what their policy was in relation to this matter.

Bruce George said “The response to date has been poor - regrettably a number of building societies and banks whom I have written to have not responded. There appears to be a difference of opinion amongst valuers, some feel that mineshafts do not have appreciable affect on value of properties whilst others think that their presence makes the property unmortgagable. Prospective buyers also have difficulty in securing insurance, therefore, no insurance results in no mortgage! However, in September 2003 the Coal Authority introduced interpretive mining reports and an insurance scheme. It is my view that Building Societies, Banks, Valuers should accept the Coal Authority’s assurances as they actually under-write any insurance that is needed when properties blighted by mineshafts are being sold.

I have written again to a number of Building Societies and Banks in order to question their policy on this very important issues that is affecting a number of my constituents particularly those who live in the Darlaston and Moxley areas. However the problem is geographically greater than these two areas.”