Robert Key (Salisbury) (Con): It gives me great pleasure to congratulate the hon. Member for Telford (David Wright), first on securing the debate and secondly on his renewed chairmanship of the all-party group. He is doing a service to us all, and to world heritage sites. I wonder, Mr. Olner, whether you remember the film that accompanied the British bid for the Olympic games in Singapore, and the dramatic effect of seeing Stonehenge with the Olympic flags behind it. That was part of the reason why Britain gained the Olympic games for London. Of course, I have the honour to represent the stones and the Stonehenge world heritage site, which includes Avebury, which is not actually in my constituency.

The story of Stonehenge is a great one, but also a sad one. Back in 1985 the United Kingdom withdrew from UNESCO. I was, at the time, the last national commissioner to have been appointed for UNESCO from the United Kingdom. I was obviously sad at the decision of my Government to pull out at that time. However, that has been remedied. We are back in, and I am delighted that the Secretary of State for International Development took that decision.

During the period that we were out, much had happened in terms of designating British sites. There is now a long and distinguished list, as we know. UNESCO now has a full British complement and is responsible for the world heritage sites. Sue Davies is chairman of the culture committee of the UK National Commission for UNESCO and the chief executive of Wessex Archaeology. I should, therefore, start by declaring a non-pecuniary interest as a director and trustee of Wessex Archaeology.

I remember well the launch of English Heritage in the chapter-house of Westminster Abbey, just across the road. In those days the chapter-house belonged to the Government and was administered by the Department of the Environment, and then by English Heritage. At the first meeting of English Heritage, Lord Montagu of Beaulieu pledged that the No. 1 priority would be Stonehenge, including the refurbishment of the visitor centre, improvement of the site and taking the roads out of the landscape.

Lord Montagu made huge strides and efforts over many years, but he did not quite get there. He was not the only one who was defeated. Margaret Thatcher was defeated, too. I recall visiting her as Prime Minister in her rooms in the House of Commons. She got on her hands and knees with me, poring over the maps, looking at the Stonehenge issue and arguing the case, because that was the sort of person she was. However, even she did not manage to crack the problem of Stonehenge.

Then Sir Jocelyn Stevens came on the scene and he, as chairman of English Heritage, brought to bear all his charm and charisma and all the other traits for which he was famous and made valiant, dramatic attempts to solve the problems of Stonehenge. We recall the cartoons of people at English Heritage jumping out of windows and all those happy days. However, even Sir Jocelyn did not solve the problem of Stonehenge. I hope that Sir Neil Cossons will solve the problem; he is the person most likely to succeed.

It was not just Margaret Thatcher who failed to succeed; our present Prime Minister also failed. I raised the matter of Stonehenge with him at Prime Minister's questions in July 1997, when he said that the Government were aware of the problem and would do their best to try to solve it. We are still waiting. I suspect that the Prime Minister will have retired before the stones are put in their proper context.

This is an extraordinary story about a world heritage site, because everyone has wanted to succeed. I know, because I was the first Minister for National Heritage at the Department of National Heritage. Quite rightly, Sir Humphrey said, "No, Minister. You can't get involved in your own constituency." So that was fine. But then I became the Minister for Roads and Traffic and I saw the problem from another angle and, once again, Sir Humphrey rightly said, "No, Minister. You can't get involved in your own constituency." So I could not solve the problem either.

The local authorities were hugely enthusiastic about cracking the problem. Local government officers in Wiltshire county council and Salisbury district council were sweating away, trying hard to find the right way through. That was a great drain on their expertise and on the local authority budgets, but nobody succeeded.

The current Minister has a huge challenge before him. I know that he understands what this is all about, because he is helpful and courteous, and has been infinitely patient as he has observed the sand slipping through his fingers when it comes to Stonehenge. His door has always been open; I am grateful for that. I know that, thanks to his background, he has a good feeling for the importance of things like world heritage sites in our national history.

Stonehenge is about more than that, however; it is a matter of national and international significance. I was going through one of the huge piles of Government brochures, plans and so on, and I came across a brilliant initial plan that was produced to celebrate the English Heritage bids, which spoke of

"Working together to meet the challenge."

And on the front of that Stonehenge master plan was a quote from Siegfried Sassoon's poem, "The Heart's Journey":

"The stones remain; their stillness can outlast

The skies of history hurrying overhead."

Then we turn the page, and we see Sir Jocelyn Stevens saying something that I bet he has regretted ever since. It is the sort of thing you say; it is the sort of thing you mean:

"I can think of no better example to the world of how this country cares for its great heritage."

Yes. Quite. And that is the problem, because everyone has wanted to solve this problem at Stonehenge. We all know that we want to restore it to the grandeur of the time when there was little interference by man. We want to take the roads out of the landscape; do we do it with a tunnel or not?

We were all pretty surprised when the then Minister, Lady Blackstone, announced that they were going to build a long haul tunnel beside the stones, and we said, "Hooray, but where is the money coming from?" But of course, earlier this year the Department for Transport said that it had no money, so that was all over and we had to go back to the drawing board.

We have had endless problems about the visitor centre and how it depends upon the tunnel or the road improvement, and if the Winterbourne Stoke bypass and the Countess road flyover are built without the tunnel there has to be a new public inquiry. It gets more and more convoluted. That is the problem. I honestly believe that our system of national government is not good at delivering this sort of project; it is just not designed to do it. Even when two Prime Ministers have been personally committed to trying to find a solution, they have not found it.

So we have to keep trying and we will keep trying. Meanwhile, the stones will not get damaged. They will be as mysterious and wonderful as ever. They deserve their designation as a world heritage site. But we should be increasingly ashamed of the visitor facilities there, and of the encroachment of the 20th and now the 21st century upon the landscape of the stones, and we must try harder.

I am still passionate about this and I believe that there are ways through. I am delighted that the Minister for roads has also had an open door and I know how much he wants to solve this. I know how much the Minister who will reply to today's debate does too, but we must go on until we do solve it; otherwise, we shall not be living up to our responsibilities as the keepers of a world heritage site like Stonehenge and Amesbury. We simply must do it. My plea to the Minister is that he uses his best endeavours and, much more than that, his charm, his guile and whatever else he can offer to help us do this, because everyone will be grateful to him: the local authorities, the local people, and the people travelling up and down from the West Country.

My final point is that a world heritage site in this case is not just a heap of old stones. Stonehenge represents an important symbol of the history of our country and culture, but much more than that, it is the gateway to the west of England. The west of England is one of the most innovative, exciting, vibrant parts of the United Kingdom. We trade on our heritage, our environment, our beaches and our holidays. At the same time, we have—in my constituency at least—the lowest unemployment rate in the United Kingdom and the highest rates of economic activity. We have high technology, we have nanotechnology and we have science in bucketfuls, and yet the whole economy of south-west England comes to a halt at Stonehenge. Stonehenge ought to have a large road sign saying, "Gateway to the South-West"; instead, you get to Stonehenge and there is a big sign saying, "Road Closed".

That is the problem, because in the south-west of England the infrastructure investment has been poor over many years. We have not had road improvements. We have had to fight even to get the M5 designated a strategic route. The A303, which was always the second route to the south-west, has been downgraded. The Blackdown hills controversy cost us years. It cost the economy of the whole south-west years; it cost the tourist economy of the south-west huge amounts. It continues to cost everyone a great deal, not only in terms of money, but in terms of everything that world heritage sites stand for. There is every reason why the Government, as a whole, should get together to solve this problem: it is about the economy, the quality of life and the standard of living.

Only last night, some of us had a meeting with the South West of England Development Agency. It too recognises that the bottleneck of Stonehenge is having an adverse impact on the place of the south-west of England in the world, in terms of economy and quality of life. So the problem represented by Stonehenge is a massive problem, and I have not over-egged that in any sense. But at heart it is the stones that matter, and the landscape in which they lie. They matter to us and to our children and grandchildren, and we must crack this problem for their sake too. I put in a plea not just for all the world heritage sites to be in our hearts and minds as we think of everything that makes Britain so British, but for us to think in practical terms about the need to provide world-class visitor facilities. Britain is capable of the very best—we know that—but we are failing miserably at Stonehenge in 2005.

I hope that, by the middle of 2006, we will see the Government's working party produce a sensible plan that can be costed, afforded and implemented without delay. At that point, UNESCO can realise its dreams for the world heritage sites in this country, all of which are magnificent; indeed, I hope to see more. My hon. Friend the Member for East Devon (Mr. Swire) has in his constituency not only part of the Jurassic coast international site, but the Cornwall and west Devon mining landscape, which is the subject of a new application.

There is a huge task ahead. Everyone wants this to happen. Minister, please make it happen.